International scholars and leaders gather in Beijing, highlight CPC's self-reform after key plenum

The 16th World Socialism Forum, hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was held in Beijing on Nov. 3 to 4. Nearly 300 participants from China and abroad—including internationally influential Marxist scholars and foreign diplomats—examined the Communist Party of China's (CPC) 105-year history and its broader impact, the challenges of party governance worldwide, and China's ideas for building a stronger CPC. Many said these approaches could offer useful lessons for global governance, while praising the Party's achievements in running the country.

"Today, in 2026, China lives in the future — and we live in an age where young people are China-maxxing. The beauty of all this is that, without realizing it or without wanting to highlight it, it's all down to the CPC," Gayatri Galloway, chair of the NMC of the Workers Party of Britain, told People's Daily Online.

"As an Indonesian, I look at China in awe. And most importantly, I look at how my own country can emulate and learn lessons from how the CPC has governed China and lifted its people out of poverty and enabled them to live a flourishing life," she added.

The forum opened days after the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China concluded on Oct. 29. The Central Committee deliberated and adopted the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Certain Major Issues concerning Persevering with Full and Rigorous Party Self-Governance. It affirmed that "the endeavors to advance full and rigorous governance over the Party in the new era have broken new ground in the self-reform of our century-old Party" and called for "persevere with full and rigorous Party self-governance, and continually break new ground in supervising, governing, developing, and strengthening the Party."

"The Communist Party of China has built a modern China, which is a wonder to behold. A party as successful as that has a particular responsibility to continue being successful, and the only way to continue to be successful is rigorous self-criticism and internal party vigilance," George Galloway, former British MP and Chairman of the Workers Party of Britain, told People's Daily Online.

"The enemy of complacency, incompetence and corruption is rigorous self-criticism, self-governance, a continued determination for renovation, for renewal," he added.

"I think that the leadership of the CPC is the most outstanding political phenomenon. I welcome the outcome of the plenum, which was an outstanding success," Galloway said.

Echoing Galloway, Roland Boer, professor at the School of Philosophy at Renmin University of China, told People's Daily Online that he sees the two answers to the question of how to escape the historical cycle of rise and fall—the people's oversight over government and the Party's self-reform—as a good example of practical dialectical thinking.

"You've got both sides there, the people supervising the party and the party undergoing processes of self-reform. It's not one or the other; both of them actually have to work together. And in a Chinese context, from my experience and understanding, because of the long tradition of the way Marxists grew in China, in that framework, that's much easier to see working," he said, adding that "it's kind of a feedback loop."

"The party constantly needs to make the whole process of self-reform, self-criticism, through dealing with problems, seeking to raise its work to a higher level. That's the internal process. But the way in which people then offer their criticism, suggestions, feedback also plays a role in that process itself, because one of the core missions of the CPC is people-centered," he said.

"It's a dialectic of the relation, at a very practical level. And when it works well, it does a practical thing," he added.