China commemorates 'May 1 Slogans' for CPC-led multiparty cooperation

BEIJING - Chinese political leaders have been commemorating a landmark event that preluded China's party system 70 years ago.

Monday marks the 70th anniversary of "May 1 Slogans," a call made by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on April 30, 1948 for non-communist parties, as well as people without party affiliation, to convene a political consultative conference and found a democratic coalition government while China was in the midst of a liberation war.

A meeting was held here to mark the historic occasion Saturday, at which Wang Yang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), made a speech.

About 10 days ago, leaders of the non-communist parties and senior figures without party affiliation visited revolutionary sites in north China's Hebei Province to commemorate the "May 1 Slogans."

The call made by the CPC Central Committee was an important event in the history of CPC-led multiparty cooperation and political consultation system, said Zhu Jidong, research fellow with the Academy of Marxism of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Seven decades ago, the "May 1 Slogans" received an ardent response from leaders of non-communist parties, who echoed positively through public statements, phone calls and meetings with CPC leaders, according to Zhu.

"It indicated that non-communist parties and people without party affiliation began to openly and willingly follow the CPC's leadership and embrace new democracy and socialism," Zhu said.

In September 1949, the first plenary meeting of the CPPCC was held in Beijing, marking the establishment of the CPC-led multiparty cooperation and political consultation system.

At a joint panel discussion with political advisors in March, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, had called the system "a new type of party system growing from China's soil" and "a great contribution to the political civilization of humanity."

Under this system, the CPC and non-communist parties share fundamental interests and work together effectively, Zhu said, stressing that non-communist parties are not opposition but consultants, aides, and co-workers of the CPC.

China's party system unites all political parties and people without party affiliation toward a common goal, effectively preventing both the flaws of the absence of oversight in one-party rule and power rotation and nasty competition among multiple political parties, he said.

It pools ideas and suggestions through institutional, procedural, and standardized arrangements and develops a scientific and democratic decision-making mechanism, avoiding another weakness of the old-fashioned party system, in which decision making and governance, confined by interests of different political parties, classes, regions and groups, tear society apart, he said.

The 70-year history of China's party system has demonstrated that it fits China's reality and traditional culture, he said.

In his Saturday speech, Wang Yang said it is necessary to unwaveringly uphold Party leadership and uphold General Secretary Xi's core status, as well as uphold the authority and the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, calling on non-communist parties to enhance their capabilities to perform their duties.

"Both the CPC and non-communist parties should not forget the original aspiration that drove leaders of older generations to jointly forge this system," Zhu said.