Decoding the Secret of the CPC’S Success

Why and How the CPC Works in China Compiled by Xie Chuntao Price: RMB480 Paperback, 1,500 pages Published by New World Press

WITH an equally vast territory as China, the United States has a population of only

300 million; by contrast, China’s population has reached 1.4 billion, which is the total sum of the populations of all industrialized countries in the world combined. The approach to governing such a big developing country as China has to be different from that in the United States, the U.K., France, or Germany.

How has the Communist

Party of China (CPC), a-centuryold political party which has been in power for more than 70 years, profoundly changed China and accordingly impacted the world? Why was the CPC, as a ruling party, able to achieve those brilliant achievements? How does the CPC govern such a big country and keep its vigor and vitality alive? To find answers to all these questions, it is worth reading the series of books titled Why and How the CPC Works in China.

The book series include five books. The first volume entitled Why and How the CPC Works in China was published in 2011, and had a wide impact at home and abroad. Since then, four more volumes in the series have been published successively. They are Governing China: How the CPC Works; Challenges for China: How the CPC Makes Progress; Fighting Corruption: How the CPC Works;

and Governing the Party: How the CPC Works .

Although each volume of the series focuses on different themes, the books mainly revolve around the central question of “how the CPC governs the country?” For instance, in response to the global financial crisis, all ruling political parties, including those in developed countries and emerging markets, had to take an “examination” of rebooting the economy, but only the CPC was able to get good marks. “How the CPC achieved its goals in governing the country” has drawn widespread attention in today’s world, and that is why these books intrigued readers.

The books were well-organized using a question-answer form with the focus on topics that readers are concerned or feel puzzled about. Historical books or theoretical writings about the Party must be problem-oriented, which means that the narration must be set in the real context, with problems people may find hard to understand. And the theoretical research must be refined to make the answers concise and to the point. By means of these thoughtprovoking questions and clearheaded answers, the books have become intriguing, insightful, and informative.

Good governance relies on sophisticatedly designed system and institutions. How the CPC’S system of governance is designed is the essence of its success. To explain it, the authors have to have knowledge of history and a deep understanding of the inner nature of politics. This is a very challenging but also very rewarding task.

The authors were successful in elaborating the system and the system design. They presented the readers the history of the CPC’S system design, including the changes in an easy-to-understand manner ; and explained problems that exist in the system design, as well as how to fix them.

For example, when discussing “how to build a socialist country based on the rule of law,” the authors reviewed the history from the rule of man to the rule of law, and finally looked at the problems in the construction of the rule of law. Then, they pointed out that there is still a long way ahead to realize law-base governance. Writings like this are highly readable and convincing.

The book series’ editor-inchief Xie Chuntao is currently vice president of the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC, or the National Academy of Governance. He has long been engaged in teaching and conducting research on the history and theory of the CPC. According to him, it is the idea of “telling true stories about the CPC” and “inviting foreigners to make comments” that has made the series a best seller in responding to overseas interest and curiosity about the CPC. For foreign readers and scholars, the books provided an objective approach to understanding the history and the philosophy of the CPC’S governance in China.

Led by the CPC, which was founded 100 years ago, China has stood up, grown rich, and become strong. The question that has been most frequently asked by foreigners is, “Why and how does the CPC work in China?” To answer the question, one should look back at the history of the CPC, a venture that gave birth to this book series.

The books cut through the fog of history and give a response to the concerns of people at home and abroad regarding how the CPC has governed the Party and the country during different historical periods, fought corruption, and handled challenges.

Xie summarized five major reasons for the success of the books: first, they provide answers to major questions of domestic and foreign readers; second, they tell vivid stories to clarify ideas and tell the truth; third, they used the words of foreign politicians, journalists, and scholars who have a knowledge of China, thus making the writings more convincing to foreigners; fourth, the history and cultural heritage of China are explained, which are the most attractive part to readers; and fifth, the differences between the CPC and other political parties in the world are discussed from an international perspective, which can naturally demonstrate the charms of the CPC.

David Shambaugh, a professor of political science and international relations at George Washington University shared his views after doing a careful reading of these books. He pointed out that the books compiled by Chinese scholars are so informative for foreigners to get an overview of the CPC’S history and to understand its development. Moreover, the books offer Chinese views on many complex and sensitive topics, which deserve the attention of foreign readers and scholars.

Zhao Qizheng, former head of the Information Office of the State Council and also former director of Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said that if you want to understand the secret of the CPC’S success, these books are more rewarding than 100 professional documents.