Beijing, June 16, 2026 — As China's economy remains mired in prolonged stagnation and internal power struggles within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intensify, the regime has rolled out a new ideological campaign centered on "Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building."
The move, announced on June 15 — Xi Jinping's 73rd birthday — marks the first official promotion of this doctrine and is widely seen by analysts as a formal declaration ending the era of reform and opening up, signaling a full return to Maoist-style party control.
According to state media, CCP Politburo Standing Committee member and central secretariat secretary Cai Qi attended and addressed the National Party Building Work Symposium in Beijing. Politburo Standing Committee member and Central Commission for Discipline Inspection secretary Li Xi also participated.
The meeting explicitly stated for the first time that "Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building" has been formed. Cai Qi called on the entire party to treat the study of this thought as a major political task, urging party members and cadres to "read the original works, study the original texts, and understand the principles," and to firmly uphold the "Two Maintenances" — maintaining Xi as the core of the party and upholding the authority of the party center.
U.S.-based China analyst Chen Pokong told The Epoch Times that the so-called "Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building" consists mainly of recycled slogans such as "comprehensively and strictly governing the party," "the party leads everything in all directions — north, south, east, west, and center," and warnings like "if a party becomes weak, scattered, or collapses, what meaning does economic construction still have?"
Chen described it as Xi's explicit announcement that he has reversed the direction of Deng Xiaoping-era reforms. The reform and opening-up period, which began under Deng, Hu Yaobang, and Zhao Ziyang and continued in a limited form under Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, has now officially ended. This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the launch of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution.
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