Xi calls for close study of report by Mao

Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent call to study an article by his predecessor Mao Zedong has sent a strong signal to Party members to honor their inheritance of the Party's guiding thoughts and strengthen the construction of Party committee leading groups, observers said. The Work Method of Party Committees, a reprinted excerpt of a report on Party work style by Mao Zedong, was published Friday by the People's Publishing House after President Xi urged "Party members and cadres to study the pioneering work," the Xinhua News Agency reported. Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, asked cadres - especially heads of Party committees at all levels - to review the requirements put forward in Mao's article, read a notice issued by the Organizational Department of the CPC Central Committee on February 25. "It is uncommon for an old report to receive such strong attention from the president and the Party, which highlights its importance," Su Wei, a professor at the Party School of the Chongqing Committee, told the Global Times on Sunday. According to Xinhua, The Work Method of Party Committees is part of Mao's report on the historic Second Plenary Session of the Seventh CPC Central Committee, held in March 1949, just before the Party took over State power. The report included instructions by Mao on how to deal with work affairs and how to work with one's comrades. In recent years, many good traditions, standards of discipline and Party leadership styles and methods have been forgotten by some officials who are Party members, Su said, so Xi wants to carry forward the Party's good heritage by returning to the study of Mao's work. The CPC's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection warned of the weakening of the Party's leadership after the conclusion of inspections at 31 State entities on February 4, including around 20 centrally governed financial institutions, Xinhua reported. Li Junru, a former vice-president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said that studying the report is part of the CPC's plan to strengthen "the Party's leadership" and to answer the question of "how to lead [the country]." This is not the first time that Xi has referred to Mao's thoughts. When commemorating the 120th anniversary of Mao's birth in 2013, Xi said the CPC will hold the banner of Mao Zedong Thought high forever in pursuing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, Xinhua reported. "There has been a weakening trend [in the understanding] of Mao's theory recently. Xi's reiteration of studying Mao's thoughts will push officials to deeply understand the Party's ruling foundation and good heritage," Su said.