Interview: CPC's efforts on governance, discipline key to China's development -- scholar

HAVANA, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Efforts by the Communist Party of China (CPC) to strengthen party building, enforce discipline and improve governance are key to China's development and future plans, a Cuban scholar has said.

Jose Luis Robaina, a China expert at Cuba's International Policy Research Center, said in an interview with Xinhua on Friday that the systematic policy of the CPC, China's ruling party, to strengthen discipline within the ranks of the organization has set an example for political parties in the world.

"This policy has led China to reach levels of development and governance that, we could say, no other country in the world has," Robaina said.

He said the Party has adopted what he called an "intelligent strategy" to consolidate its leadership role in reaching the country's development goals.

"Enforcing stricter discipline and better governance within the ranks of the Party will help further unite the country and allow China to achieve its social and economic development objectives, including eliminating poverty in rural areas," he said, adding these efforts are closely linked to other policies the Party and the government have set for the coming years.

Lauding the anti-corruption campaign initiated by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, the expert said: "It has brought positive results for the Party's own discipline to be strengthened, and in turn has served as an example for the society as a whole."

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, on Thursday called for more anti-corruption efforts to "fundamentally improve the political ecosystem of the Party" at a disciplinary session held in Beijing.

Speaking at the second plenary session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC, the general secretary emphasized that all-round efforts should see the Party's political building enhanced, its theory strengthened, its organizations consolidated, its conduct improved, and its discipline enforced.

"Only with discipline within the ranks of the CPC, good governance at all levels and an organization without the scourge of corruption can these goals be achieved," Robaina said, referring to the Party's resolve to get rid of the country's rural poverty by 2020, build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, as well as protect the environment while maintaining economic development.

He said that the Chinese leadership's efforts to build a party that is keen to meet people's needs are worthy of praise and very necessary for the development of China.

"The CPC and Xi Jinping are giving an example to the world showing how to build a society in the 21st century without resorting to the exploitation of men and a social system that seeks the best for all its citizens," he said.

Maintaining close ties with the people to resolve China's pressing concerns is a must for the CPC at a time when socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, the academic noted. Enditem