Abstract

Introduction At the 4th Plenum of the Communist Party of China (CPC), held in September 2004, the CCP set out on a new self-declared path to establish itself as a permanent “governing party” (zhizheng dang) instead of remaining a “revolutionary” party.1 The 36-page resolution on the Enhancement of the Party's Governance Capability says that China's reform and development have reached a critical stage in which new situations and new problems are mushrooming.2 The CPC concedes that it needs to enhance its governance capability to consolidate its ruling status and meet domestic and global challenges. A new…