Delegates from North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) arrive in Beijing, capital of China, on October 13, 2022. Photo: Xinhua

 The united front is important for the Communist Party of China (CPC) to unite all non-CPC personages within and outside China to gather the wisdom and strength of all Chinese people to realize the great rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, said analysts, as the Xinhua News Agency reported three days ahead of the 20th CPC National Congress that the Party's Central Committee had a crucial meeting with non-CPC personages. 

The CPC Central Committee held a meeting on August 31 to seek opinions and suggestions from non-CPC personages on the draft report to the upcoming 20th CPC National Congress, Xinhua reported on Thursday. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting and made an important speech.

Facing new tasks and requirements of the new era and new journey, the CPC and other political parties in China shall enhance cooperation, consolidate and expand the broadest possible patriotic united front, pool to the greatest extent possible the wisdom and strength of various social strata and aspects, and give full play to the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the whole society and the whole nation to strive for building a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the national rejuvenation on all fronts, Xi said.

At the meeting, Xi introduced the process of issuing the draft report to the upcoming 20th CPC National Congress, and he hoped that the non-CPC personages would speak out freely and be frank and sincere, to present their opinions and advice on the draft report.
  
Participants of the central committees of non-CPC political parties in China, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), and personages with no party affiliation, highly value the performance of and the contributions made by the CPC Central Committee with Xi at its core in the past five years and in the past 10 years since the beginning of the new era. 

They also presented suggestions in fields including the construction of an international human rights narrative system, high-level opening-up under the structure of Dual Circulation, and improvement of the capability of self-reliant innovation.  

After listening to the opinions of the participants, Xi noted that seeking opinions from non-CPC personages on the report to the 20th CPC National Congress is an important part of China's political consultation, and an efficacious way for non-CPC figures to contribute to the country's development and national rejuvenation.

On behalf of the CPC Central Committee, Xi expressed gratitude and said their opinions will be carefully analyzed and taken into consideration.

Promoting the united front is among the key historical experience of the CPC's endeavors over the past century, Xi said. Since China ushered in the new era 10 years ago, the historic achievements and the historic shifts in the cause of the Party and the country are a result of the firm leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the efforts made by the Chinese people of all ethnic groups. It is also a result of the joint efforts made by all non-CPC political parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and non-party personages. 

Zhang Shuhua, director of the Institute of Political Science of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that the Chinese political system and the relations among political parties are totally different from the Western ones.

Western multiparty or two-party systems, in nature, are about political struggles for power and interests, and they confront each other for votes. In fact, they only serve their own interests, rather than the nation as a whole, said analysts, stressing that opposition parties will always make trouble and create obstacles for ruling ones, no matter whether the policy can help the country or not.

In China, political parties are working together and non-CPC political parties provide suggestions to the CPC to help the ruling party to improve its governance, so they share the same goals. This is why the achievements that China has made today are thanks to the joint efforts made by the CPC and non-CPC parties, groups and personages, Zhang noted.

Seeking opinions from non-CPC personages is routine for the CPC before it issues or releases significant reports, documents and announcements that affect the whole country and every class in China. The release of information on such a meeting on Thursday means that the Party and the whole country are being fully prepared for the upcoming significant political event, analysts said. 

The opening ceremony of the 20th National Congress is entering the final countdown. Delegates of the congress from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region arrived in Beijing on Thursday, the first delegation group from outside Beijing to arrive in the capital.

Groups of delegates from other parts of China, including Sichuan, Guizhou and Heilongjiang provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region arrived in Beijing in succession on Thursday. 

More than 2,200 delegates from all over the country were elected to attend the upcoming 20th National Congress of the CPC, which is scheduled to convene on October 16. Representing the country's 96 million Party members, the delegates will hear and deliberate a report by the 19th CPC Central Committee and deliberate a report by the 19th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. 

The delegates are broadly representative, with a reasonable structure and distribution in terms of ages, regions and industries, meeting the requirements set by the CPC Central Committee and winning the support of Party members, Yang Xuedong, a professor of political science at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times. 

He noted that the outlooks of Party members also mirror the elevation of the quality of Party members in recent years, during which the development of Party members, and their ability and ideological construction, were greatly improved.