Tasks of the Communist Party Organizations in the State Owned Enterprises
The author is Zhang Shulin, professor of the Party Building Teaching and Research Department of the Party School of the CPC Shandong Provincial Party Committee (Shandong Administrative University, June 2024
With the approval of the Central Committee of the Party, centrally-managed enterprises shall generally establish party groups, and centrally-managed financial enterprises (banks etc.) shall establish party committees of the nature of party groups. There are generally two level of party organizations in the state owned enterprises run by state capital, one is Grassroots party committee, second type is general party branch. The Grassroots party committee of a state-owned enterprise shall be elected by the party members’ congress or the party members’ representative congress, and each term of office shall generally be 5 years. The general party branch and branch committee shall be elected by the party members’ congress, and each term of office shall generally be 3 years. The grassroot party committee of a state-owned enterprise is generally composed of 5 to 9 people, with a maximum of 11 people, including 1 secretary and 1 to 2 deputy secretaries. The party committee of a state-owned enterprise shall establish a disciplinary inspection committee or disciplinary inspection committee member.
Recently, the CPC Central Committee issued the “Regulations on the Work of Grassroots Organizations of the Communist Party of China in State-owned Enterprises (Trial Regulation)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations” approved by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on November 29, 2019), and clearly defined the main responsibilities of the party organizations of state-owned enterprises in Chapter 3. This document systematically clarifies and accurately explains the main responsibilities of the party organizations in the state-owned enterprises. The document guides the party organizations of state-owned enterprises in the new era to better perform their duties and continuously improve the overall quality and level of party building work in state-owned enterprises.
I. Main responsibilities of the Party committee (Party group) of state-owned enterprises
Article 11 of the Regulations states: “The Party committees (Party groups) of state-owned enterprises play a leading role, set the direction, manage the overall situation, ensure implementation, and discuss and decide major matters of the enterprise in accordance with regulations.” Focusing on playing a leading role, the Regulations set seven responsibilities of the Party committees (Party groups) of state-owned enterprises.
1. Responsibility for ensuring a correct political stance
That is, we must focus on “strengthening the political construction of the party in enterprises, adhering to and implementing the fundamental, basic and important systems of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and educating and guiding all party members to always maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core in political stance, political direction, political principles and political path”. The “Opinions of the CPC Central Committee on Strengthening the Political Construction of the Party”, issued and implemented on January 31, 2019, specifically pointed out the need to focus on “strengthening the political orientation of state-owned enterprises and institutions” when talking about improving the political capabilities of state-owned enterprises, because “state-owned enterprises are an important material and political foundation of socialism with Chinese characteristics”. Since state-owned enterprises are an important political foundation, the party committees (party groups) of state-owned enterprises must improve their political stance to ensure that all work of state-owned enterprises always adheres to the correct political direction and achieves good political results. Specifically, it is necessary to put the political construction of the party in the first place, shoulder the responsibility of the party’s political construction, improve the political stance, strengthen political guidance, enhance political capabilities, cultivate the political ecology, prevent political risks, resolutely implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee, and promote state-owned enterprises to focus on their main responsibilities and businesses, serve the national development strategy, and fully fulfill their economic, political and social responsibilities.
2. Responsibility of Party Leadership
That is, we must “thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, study and publicize the Party’s theories, implement the Party’s lines, principles and policies, and supervise and ensure that the major decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the resolutions of higher-level Party organizations are implemented in the enterprise”. In October 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the National Conference on Party Building in State-owned Enterprises, pointing out that “the Party’s leadership over state-owned enterprises is an organic unity of political leadership, ideological leadership, and organizational leadership.”
The Party’s political, ideological, and organizational leadership over state-owned enterprises can be summed up in one sentence: to thoroughly implement the Party’s decisions, resolutions, theories, programs, lines, principles and policies in state-owned enterprises. Based on this, one of the important responsibilities of the Party committees (Party groups) of state-owned enterprises is to be responsible for the Party’s leadership and ensure that the major decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the resolutions of higher-level Party organizations are implemented in the enterprise.
3. Responsibility for deciding major matters of the enterprise
That is, they should “study and discuss major business management issues of enterprises, and support the shareholders’ (general) meeting, board of directors, board of supervisors and management in exercising their powers in accordance with the law”. Article 15 of the Regulations states that the major business management issues that the party committee (party group) of state-owned enterprises should study and discuss include: major measures to implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and implement the national development strategy; enterprise development strategy, medium- and long-term development plan, and important reform plan; principled and directional issues in enterprise asset restructuring, property transfer, capital operation and large-scale investment; enterprise organizational structure establishment and adjustment, formulation and revision of important rules and regulations; major issues involving enterprise safety production, maintenance of stability, employee rights and interests, social responsibility, etc.; and other important matters that should be studied and discussed by the party committee (party group).
To ensure that the Party committees (Party groups) of state-owned enterprises study and discuss the implementation of major business management issues of enterprises, we must firmly grasp the three basic points: First, major business management issues must be studied and discussed by the Party committees (Party groups) of state-owned enterprises before the board of directors or the management team makes a decision. The study and discussion of the Party organization is a pre-procedure for the board of directors and the management team to make major decisions. Second, the Party committee (Party group) should formulate a list of issues for study and discussion based on the actual situation of the enterprise, and clarify the rights and responsibilities of the Party committee (Party group) and other governance entities such as the board of directors, the board of supervisors, and the management team. Third, adhere to and improve the “two-way entry and cross-appointment” leadership system. Members of the Party committee (Party group) team who meet the conditions can enter the board of directors, the board of supervisors, and the management team through legal procedures. In particular, the “one principal and two deputy” setting model of the party committee secretary of the enterprise should be orderly promoted, that is, the party committee secretary concurrently serves as the chairman or executive director, one of the deputy party committee secretaries concurrently serves as the general manager, and one of the deputy party committee secretaries is responsible for party affairs full-time.
4. Responsibility for overseeing the selection and employment of personnel by enterprises
That is, we must “strengthen the leadership and control over the selection and employment of personnel in enterprises, and do a good job in the construction of the enterprise leadership team and the cadre and talent team.” In the final analysis, it is to implement the principle of the Party managing cadres and the principle of the Party managing talents in state-owned enterprises. In October 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the National Conference on Party Building in State-owned Enterprises, pointing out that “leaders of state-owned enterprises must be loyal to the Party, be innovative, manage enterprises well, develop enterprises effectively, and be honest and upright.” This actually clarifies the two basic points that need to be adhered to in the selection and employment of personnel in state-owned enterprises in accordance with the principle of the Party managing cadres: first, “select good people” and second, “select capable people.” “Good people” refers to the requirement of political loyalty and “morality” of state-owned enterprise cadres, that is, to highlight political qualification, strong work style, and honest and upright; “capable people” refers to the requirement of the ability and quality of state-owned enterprise cadres, that is, to focus on selecting those who have been forged in “difficult” positions, who have grown up through hard work, repeated tempering, and repeated training in the front line of production, operation and management, and who have proven in practical training that they are truly capable, capable of doing things, and can accomplish things, and do not do bad things. Of course, “selecting good people” and “selecting capable people” are not parallel. The prerequisite is that they must be “good people”, and then we can see whether they are “capable people”.
5. Responsibilities for Comprehensive and Strict Party Governance (Tr. Strict Self-Governance of the Party)
That is, we must “fulfill the main responsibility for the construction of the party style and clean government of the enterprise, lead and support the internal discipline inspection organization to perform the duties of supervision, discipline enforcement and accountability, strictly enforce political discipline and political rules, and promote the comprehensive and strict governance of the party to the grassroots level”. Since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, comprehensive and strict governance of the party has remained the basic strategy for managing and governing the party, and it has been continuously promoted in depth and extended to the grassroots level. Under this situation, the party committees (party groups) of state-owned enterprises must shoulder the main responsibility for comprehensive and strict governance of the party, and bring the party management and governance of the enterprise into the track of deepening the comprehensive and strict governance of the party. First, we must persist in rectifying the style and discipline, continue to correct the unhealthy style within the party represented by the “four styles”, strictly implement the “Regulations on Disciplinary Punishment of the Communist Party of China”, “Regulations on Intra-Party Supervision of the Communist Party of China”, “Regulations on Accountability of the Communist Party of China” and other important party regulations, and uphold the six major disciplines and political rules of the party, uphold supervision, discipline enforcement and accountability, and uphold the party’s fine style. Second, we must insist on integrated promotion of not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt, insist on the deep integration of treating symptoms and treating root causes, and build a solid ideological and moral defense line against corruption and change.
6. Strengthening the responsibility of strengthening the foundation at the grassroots level
That is, we must “strengthen the construction of grassroots party organizations and party members, unite and lead the workers and the masses to actively participate in the reform and development of enterprises”. The grassroots party organizations and party members of state-owned enterprises are the foundation of all the work and combat effectiveness of the party in state-owned enterprises. “If the foundation is not solid, the earth will shake”. The party committees (party groups) of state-owned enterprises should give prominence to the construction of grassroots party organizations and grassroots party building work in state-owned enterprises, focus on improving organizational strength, highlight political functions, and build grassroots party organizations in state-owned enterprises in the new era into a strong fighting fortress to publicize the party’s propositions, implement the party’s decisions, lead grassroots governance, unite and mobilize the masses, and promote reform and development.
7. Responsibility for strengthening the Party’s political cohesion
That is, it is necessary to “lead the enterprise’s ideological and political work, spiritual civilization construction, united front work, and lead the enterprise’s trade unions, Communist Youth League, women’s organizations and other mass organizations.” The ideological and political work of state-owned enterprises is responsible for the party’s unity and cohesion of the masses of workers, unifying their thoughts and cognition, and purifying their thoughts and souls; the spiritual civilization construction of state-owned enterprises is responsible for the party’s efforts to improve the overall spirit of the enterprise and shape a good spiritual outlook; the united front work of state-owned enterprises is responsible for the party’s greatest possible and maximum cohesion to form a consensus among all parties in the enterprise and form a development synergy; the trade unions, Communist Youth League, Women’s Federation and other mass organizations in state-owned enterprises are responsible for strengthening the connection and communication between the party and the employee groups at different levels or fields of the enterprise. Only by leading and carrying out the above work well can the party committees (party groups) of state-owned enterprises enhance the overall political cohesion of state-owned enterprises, and enable the enterprises from top to bottom, from left to right, inside and outside the party to “think in one direction, work in one direction, and work in one direction”, and unite and forge ahead towards the realization of various goals of reform and development, production and operation, harmony and stability.
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