Corruption a prominent topic in landmark resolution

The ruling Communist Party of China has released a landmark historical resolution adopted last week by its top decision-making body, just hours after President Xi Jinping's high-profile summit with his US counterpart, Mr Joe Biden.

The resolution, only the third in the party's 100-year history, was not released at the end of the party central committee's four-day sixth plenary session last Thursday.

But a communique summarising the key points of the document that was issued after the meeting gave clear signals of Mr Xi's exalted status as the party's "core leader", and sealed his political ideology, Xi Jinping Thought, as the guiding principle to lead the country at least over the next three decades.

By then, China would have hoped to have achieved its "national rejuvenation" target of becoming a modern, advanced socialist country.

Yesterday, state news agency Xinhua also published an "explanation" of the resolution by Mr Xi justifying the need for such a document, which allows him to put his stamp on the official historical narrative of the party and cement his authority.

While the document - at 36,000 characters long - focused largely on the accomplishments of the party since its founding in 1921, it acknowledged failings at certain times in its history, saying it did not supervise certain party bodies effectively.

Corruption, especially, got a significant mention in the resolution, with the word appearing at least 25 times and described as "the greatest threat to the party's long-term governance". It said some officials engaged in cronyism and formed self-serving cliques, while others "got too big for their boots".

That led to a "startling level of corruption that damaged the party's image and prestige and severely undermined relations between the party and the people and between officials and the people, arousing the discontent and indignation of many party members, officials, and members of the public".

Since taking power in 2012, Mr Xi has launched a sweeping anti-graft campaign targeted at both "tigers" and "flies" - high-ranking officials and lower-level public servants - to shore up party discipline and restore trust.

The resolution was also critical of certain social ills that have been attributed to the country's earlier economic-growth-at-all-cost policy.

"Misguided ideas" like "money worship, hedonism, ultra-individualism, and historical nihilism" surfaced, it said.

Apart from an intense crackdown on China's technology companies this year, the authorities have also tightened the noose on the private education sector for its high fees, and social media platforms for promoting lavish lifestyles, and censored millions of online posts that challenge the party's official version of history.

Mr Xi has also launched another campaign for "common prosperity", which is aimed at narrowing the widening wealth and income gaps in the country.