Party leaders told to focus more on Party construction

Leading Party cadres at all levels need to work harder in supervising members of the leadership team, as "bad apples" reflect on the whole team, according to a document released on Wednesday.

The document, issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said that assessment of party chiefs at all levels will first of all focus on how Party construction is carried out and quality of the leadership.

"Persons in charge may be disciplined if they fail to do their duty, causing lax leadership and continued undesirable work styles," said the document on improving Party leadership before 2018.

The document came after CPC Central Committee General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech at the end of the CPC's "mass line" campaign in October. In the speech, Xi said that "doing a good job of Party construction is the biggest political achievement of Party Committees of various levels."

Local Party leaders often focus on economic development while ignoring problems in the Party. It is rare to see officials take responsibilities for their corrupt colleagues or subordinates.

The document urges beefing up selection of the right persons to assume key positions and optimizing the structure of the Party and government leadership of various levels, adding women, ethnic minority groups and non-CPC members should also be properly represented.