The Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC (The Central Party School) is the highest institution of learning charged with the task of training senior and middle-ranking leading cadres of the Party and fostering Marxist theoretical cadres. As an important organ directly under the Central Committee of the CPC, it is an important bastion for studying and publicizing Marxism, Mao Zedong Thought and the System of Theories of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and a furnace for tempering the Party spirit. It is also a research institute of philosophy and other social sciences of the CPC.

The predecessor of the Central Party School was the Marxist- Communist School founded in Ruijin, Jiangxi Province, in the Central Revolutionary Base Area in March, 1933. It marched to northern Shaanxi togather with the Chinese Workers and Peasants Red Army in 1936, and then it was renamed the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. Afterwards, it moved to Yan'an in 1937. Mao Zedong was President of the Central Party School along with his other positions after 1942. It was withdrawn from Yan'an in 1947. The CPC Central Committee decided to found an advanced Party school in July, 1948, which was named the Marxism-Leninism Academy, and Liu Shaoqi worked concurrently as President of the Academy. The Marxism-Leninism Academy moved to Beiping after its liberation and it was renamed the Advanced Party School of the CPC Central Committee in 1955. The Advanced Party School suspended during the Cultural Revolution after 1966. It was re-opened in 1977 and renamed the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC. Around the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CPC, when Hu Yaobang presided over its work, the Central Party School promoted the well-known discussion on the criterion of truth, and played a significant role in restoring the Party's ideological line of seeking truth from facts and shifting the focus of the Party's work.

Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China and Chairman of the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, worked as President of the Central Party School from 1993 to 2002. Xi Jinping, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Vice-President of the People's Republic of China, works as President of the Central Party School now. The School Committee is the leading body of the Central Party School, under which there are eight teaching and research departments of Marxist Theory, Philosophy, Economics, Scientific Socialism, Political Science and Law, the History of the CPC, Party Building, and Culture and History, and there is one institute, namely the Institute for International Strategies. There are functional departments in charge of teaching affairs, scientific research, organization and personnel, administration and logistics, etc. In the management of student affairs, there are three deparments: the Further Training Department is responsible for the training of cadres at the ministerial or provincial and prefectural levels as well as secretaries of county (or city) Party committees on a rotating basis; the Trainning Department takes charge of the training of young and middle-aged reserve cadres and cadres of ethnic minority groups from Tibet and Xinjiang; and the Graduate School is engaged in the education of graduate students for doctor's or master's degrees in the disciplines of Marxist theory and in the training of teachers from nation-wide Party schools as well. Attached to the Central Party School are the Branch of the departments directly under the CPC Central Committee, the Branch of the Central Government Organs, the Branch of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (the PLA), the Branch of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) and other branches, which train cadres at corresponding levels. There are more than 1,100 staff members working at the Central Party School now, and there are around 1,600 students at school for each semester.

The Central Party School focuses on the study of the System of Theories of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and aims to improve the theoretical quality of students, widen their world vision, enhance their strategic thinking and strengthen their Party spirit. Its curriculum includes such courses as "Fundamental Issues of Marxism", "Fundamental Issues of Mao Zedong Thought", "Fundamental Issues of the System of Theories of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics", "Contemporary World Economy", "Science and Technology in the Contemporary World", "Legal Systems in the Contemporary World", "Military Affairs in the Contemporary World", "Ideological Trends in the Contemporary World", and "Ethnic Groups and Religions in the Contemporary World". The Central Party School makes great efforts to guide students into the study and discussion of major domestic and international issues of practical and strategic significance, and attaches much importance to enhancing their Party spirit by conducting the education about the Party spirit and working style throughout the traing process. Leaders of the CPC Central Committee and central departments as well as experts in various fields are invited regularly to deliver speeches on the domestic and international situations, the national conditions of China and the policies of the Party and the state.

In undertaking scientific research, the Central Party School concentrates on the study of practical and strategic issues that are vital to building socialism with Chinese characteristics, bases the researches on investigations, and strives to make theoretical innovations according to the development and change of the domestic conditions and the international situation. Since 1995, a large number of high-quality books, research papers and telefilms published by the Central Party School have won the national prizes of "Five-One Project" for spiritual civilization construction and other prizes. During the period of the Seventh to the Tenth Five-Year Plan, the Central Party School undertook over 100 national research projects, and fully played its role as a think tank and an idealogical and theoretical bastion of the Party.

In order to undertake more efficiently the task of training senior and middle-ranking leading cadres of the Party in the new century, the Central Party School pays great attention to the application of information technology. At present, the students district, the office district and the living district are linked by the campus network. Teachers may give lectures through the campus network, and students may conduct self-study on the line. The Distance Education Network of Nation-wide Party Schools, which has over 2,700 websites throughout the country, preliminarily accomplishes the functions of online education, online interaction, online monitoring, network course on demand and information inquiry.

The Central Party School has fine infrastructural facilities, including the complex building, the auditorium, the student dorm buildings, the cafeteria and the gymnasium. The complex building covers a total floor space of 31,200 square metres, with a conference center that can hold 680 people and 10 classrooms. It is an important place for daily teachings and various meetings, and also for the reception of the leaders of the central authorities and foreign guests. The student dorm buildings, which cover a total floor space of 36,000 square metres, can meet the requirement of traing about 2,000 students at the same time. The gymnasium, which covers a total floor space of 23,348 square metres, contains a swimming pool and special rooms for tennis, table tennis, squash and fitness exercise.

The Central Party School publishes several newspapers and periodicals, such as Study Times, Theory Forum, Chinese Cadres Tribune and Journal of the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC, and runs a book publishing house and an audio-visual publishing house. The school library's printed collection amounts to more than 1.3 million copies of books of 320 thousand titles. The website of the school digital library possesses a number of large databases, including China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI), Index to Chinese Newspapers and Periodicals and the Database of EBSCO, and it also has the Database of Basic Documents of Marxism and other special datebases established by its own staff.

The Graduate School of the Central Party School offers academic graduate education, which is integrated into the national education system. Now it has three national key disciplines, namely Philosophy of Marxism, Scientific Socialism and the International Communist Movement, and the History of the CPC (including the Doctrine of China Party and Party Building); three primary disciplines which are authorized to confer doctor's degree and four post-doctoral mobile work-stations. Among its faculty, there are 148 doctoral candidate supervisors and 164 master supervisors, including a group of experts and scholars who are well-known at home and abroad in the fields of philosophy and other social sciences, and a group of young and middle-aged leading figures in various disciplines. Up to July, 2009, 2,457 graduate students graduated and received their academic degrees, and nearly 600 graduates are studying at school now.

In recent years, the Central Party School has been increasingly open to the outside world and established academic cooperative relations with many government organs, research institutes and educational institutions of higher learning of nearly 30 countries. Political leaders and famous scholars from numerous countries have come for visits and exchanges. The Central party School sends some students and faculty members abroad for visits or advanced studies every year.

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