Editor's note: It is the fundamental principle of a Marxist party to "put the people first" and "govern for the people". This has epitomized the Communist Party of China (CPC)'s political nature and its governing concept, says a commentary by People's Daily:

At the recent Sixth Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Disciplinary Commission, Party General Secretary Hu Jintao delivered a speech, stressing once again that only by sticking to the principles of "the people first" and "governing for the people" can our Party's ruling status remain unbreakable and our cause progress.

Why has our Party put so much emphasis on the principles of "the people first" and "governing for the people" at the critical beginning year of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015)?

The Fifth Plenum of the 17th CPC Central Committee, convened in mid-October, made an overall arrangement for national economic and social development over the next five years. Confronted with the complicated and changeable internal and external environment; as well as the arduous and heavy task of reform, development and stability; we should continue to grasp and better capitalize on this important strategic period of opportunity for our development, and effectively deal with the various risks and challenges facing us. Only in this way will we fulfill the targets and tasks of the 12th Five-Year Plan and lay a decisive foundation for an all-round well-off society.

We should firmly depend on the people; allow full play to their enthusiasm, initiative and creativity; cement solidarity with them and lead them in common endeavor toward common goals. To achieve this, we should further put into practice the Party's "people first" and "governing for the people" principles, and better realize, maintain and develop the fundamental interests of the people. We should always maintain the flesh-and-blood connection between the Party and the people.

Having expounded the historical experiences of the Party and summarized what it has achieved in revolution, construction and reform, General Secretary Hu further clarified the utmost importance of the "people first" and "governing for the people" principles. He said that the principles offered an ideological weapon and code of conduct for the Party to lead and unite with the people to realize the ambitious blueprint of the 12th Five-Year Plan and open a new situation for the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics.

What matters is that the "people first" and "governing for the people" principles should be put into practice by consolidating the Party and building a clean government and furthering the anti-corruption battle.

For a long time, the "people first" and "governing for the people" concepts have been widely practiced in the work of the Party and the State. But at the same time, many problems are still yet to be solved, especially in our grassroots work. These problems contravene the nature of the Party and its fundamental principles, creating dissatisfaction among the majority of residents. In their daily work, some grassroots officials do not have a strong sense of serving the people and do not pay enough attention to the interests of the people. They condescend to residents and randomly issue administrative mandates in a rigid and simple manner. Their decisions are not made based on practical local situations and pay no respect to the wishes of residents and their interests. To pursue personal political performance, they usually rush to launch some projects, "image projects" in particular, resulting in a huge waste of manpower and resources. With a lax working style, some grassroots officials waver before difficulties and try to evade difficult decisions, leading to the indefinite postponement of solutions to the problems and failing to meet the requirements of residents.

In the process of land acquisition, house demolition and city management, some fail to abide by legal procedures and use gross and crude methods. To meet their expanding selfish interests and demands, some even extort money and other rewards from the people they should serve. All these malpractices have severely damaged the interests of the people and tarnished the image of the Party and the government.

Common efforts from all Party members are needed to solve these problems and to better realize, safeguard and develop the fundamental interests of the majority of the people. The Party's principles should be: power should be used for the people, there should always be concern for the people, and efforts should always be made in the interests of the people.

We need to effectively deal with the outstanding problems that damage people's interests and thus address people's strong dissatisfaction with the progress so far in the campaign against corruption and the construction of a clean government.

People need to play a positive role in the construction of a clean government, the consolidation of the Party and the fight against corruption. Only in this way can the Party's ruling status remain unbreakable and the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics continue to prosper.

(China Daily 01/17/2011 page8)