BEIJING- Journalists from around the world paid a visit to the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and commonly known as the Central Party School, on Tuesday (April 16).

The school is the higher education institution which trains Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres.

It is located in Haidian, Beijing, close to the Old Summer Palace and Summer Palace.

The following is a short history of the Party School of the Central Committee of CPC (CCPS).

The Marxist-Communist School was founded in March 1933 in Ruijin, Jiangxi Province.

In the winter of 1941, Mao Zedong created the motto “Seeking Truth from Facts and Refraining from Empty Talks” for the CCPS.

Mao Zedong acted as president of the CCPS from March 1943 to March 1947.

In July 1948, in order to adapt to the developing political situation, the CPC Central Committee decided to establish a top tier Party School (the Marxism-Leninism College), in Pingshan County, Hebei Province.

In March 1949, the Marxism-Leninism College – along with the members of the CPC Central Committee - moved to Beijing. In August of 1955, it was renamed “Senior Party School” and it operated under the CPC Central Committee (a.k.a Central Senior Party School).

In May 1978, an article titled “Practice Is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth” was published in the CCPS’s journal Theoretical Trends (Lilun Dongtai), which triggered a major debate over what exactly constitutes as truth nationwide. This lead to ideological emancipation, Reform and Opening-up.

Important Party and State leaders in different stages of Chinese history including Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping have all presided over CCPS.

Comrade Xi Jinping served as the president of CCPS from 2007 to 2012.

The CCPS has significantly advanced the causes of the Party and the people, particularly in advancing Reform and Opening-up, by supporting the Party’s theoretical innovation and upholding their ideological line.

Leading cadres can improve their political acumen and theoretical knowledge by spending some time in the Party School, helping them to align their ideas more closely with the Party’s lines, values, and programs, while consciously protecting the Party’s unified leadership.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, Chinese Communists have developed the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era by fusing the principles of Marxism with China’s practical realities and with fine traditional Chinese culture.

Comrade Xi Jinping is the main representative of this movement. The Thought represents a significant advancement in the application of Marxism to the Chinese environment and is the pinnacle of contemporary Chinese culture and spirit.

Following the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the CCPS has been continuously improving its teaching and scientific research while strengthening the development of think tank. This has helped to advance the building of the whole Party ideologically and theoretically and the capacity of cadres, the development of Chinese philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics, the creation of a moderately prosperous society and the Chinese path to modernization.

The National Academy of Governance, established in 1994, trains senior and middle-level civil servants, as well as senior administrators and policy experts. It delivers scientific research, notably studies pertaining to theories of public administration and other subjects, as well as consultation on decision-making to the CPC Central Committee.

It should be noted that the foreign journalists visited the school in a program organized by China International Press Communication Center (CIPCC).

CIPCC, under the China Public Diplomacy Association (CPDA), has initiated a program to build a platform for the media from countries around the world, especially developing countries, to observe China and study development in this country.

The program aimed at media exchange was halted in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

In each edition of the program, journalists from all around the world gather together to get familiar with the modern China and exchange their experiences in the field of journalism.

In 2024 edition of the program, scheduled to be held from late February until late June, over 100 journalists from more than 90 countries are participating.

A brief history of CPC

The Communist Party of China (CPC) was founded on July 1, 1921.

In fact, the CPC traces its origins to the May Fourth Movement of 1919, during which radical Western ideologies like Marxism and anarchism gained traction among Chinese intellectuals. Other influences stemming from the Bolshevik revolution and Marxist theory inspired the CPC. Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao were among the first to publicly support Leninism and world revolution. Both regarded the October Revolution in Russia as groundbreaking, believing it to herald a new era for oppressed countries everywhere.

From 1921 to 1949, the CPC led the Chinese people in their arduous armed struggle and finally succeeded in overthrowing the rule of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism and establishing the People's Republic of China (PRC). After the founding of the PRC, the CPC led the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in defending the independence and security of the country, successfully completing the transition from new democratic revolution to socialist revolution, carrying out systematic large-scale socialist construction, and achieving economic and cultural progress unparalleled in Chinese history. 

After the founding of the PRC, the CPC continued to lead the nation to make constant progress: triumphing over repeated threats, sabotages and armed provocation of imperialists and hegemonists, safeguarding the nation's independence and security; successfully achieving a great transfer of the Chinese society from new-democratism to socialism, accomplishing, in a general sense, the socialist transformation of the private ownership of the means of production; and launching the large-scale socialist economic construction in a planned way, and enabling Chinese economic and cultural causes to attain unprecedented development.

At its nature, the CPC is the vanguard of the Chinese working class as well as the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. It is the core of leadership for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The Party represents the development trend of China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people (the Three Represents).

After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Party Central Committee at the end of 1978, the country embarked on the biggest change in the history of New China. From 1979, the CPC began to carry out the reform and opening-up policy initiated by Deng Xiaoping. In more than two decades since the initiation of the reform and opening-up, China's economic and social development has been crowned with remarkable success and the country has taken on a new look. This has been the best period since the founding of the PRC in which the Chinese people have reaped the most material benefits. 

Since Xi Jinping took power, Xi has initiated a wide-reaching anti-corruption campaign, while centralizing powers in the office of CPC general secretary at the expense of the collective leadership of prior decades. In 2021, CPC celebrated its centenary, and China lifted all people across the nation to walk out of extreme poverty. This marks a significant milestone for China as well as the world.

Photo: The statue of Mao Zedong in the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party (By Mahnaz Abdi)