No raising Iron Curtain on congress eve

China's ruling Communist Party insisted on Sunday it remained relevant in the face of rapid social change...

China’s ruling Communist Party insisted on Sunday it remained relevant in the face of rapid social change, and on the eve of a major party conclave indicated any steps toward political reform would keep it firmly in charge.

Li Dongsheng, spokesman for the 17th party congress, a five-yearly meeting that decides the country’s direction and leadership line-up, kept with the party’s tradition of secrecy, giving no hint as to how its closed-door decisions will be made. “Our party emphasises holding up high the great banner of socialism with distinct Chinese features,” Li said. Political reform “must be promoted actively, yet prudently”. “We will never copy the model of the Western political system,” Li said.

The party has committed to becoming more internally democratic, and Li confirmed that there would be more candidates than seats for positions on the party’s decision-making Central Committee.

Story continues below this ad

But he gave no indication of how many more candidates than seats there would be or even the size of the elite Politburo, the party’s ruling inner core which currently has 23 members. “We can only know the number of members after the election,” he said.

China’s Communist Party is also admitting a broader spectrum of members in a society that has embraced market reforms and all but abandoned Marxist principles. With 73 million members, Li said there was no danger that it was losing relevance. “Many young people as well as many private businessmen are enthusiastic applicants for CCP membership,” he said. “They play an exemplary and vanguard role.”

More than 1,500 private entrepreneurs were admitted to the party last year, he said, following an amendment to the country’s constitution at the last party congress in 2002 that allowed their inclusion.

“This shows that if we do a good job in admitting new party members from the private sector, we will be able to broaden the popular foundation of our party (and) enhance the influence and cohesion of the party across the society,” he said.