Chapter V

Primary Organizations of the Party

Article 30

Primary Party organizations are formed in factories, shops, schools, offices, city neighbourhoods, people's communes, co-operatives, farms, townships, towns, companies of the People's Liberation Army and other basic units, where there are three or more full Party members.

In primary Party organizations, the primary Party committees, and committees of general Party branches or Party branches, are set up respectively as the work requires and according to the number of Party members, subject to approval by the higher Party organizations. A primary Party committee is elected by a general membership meeting or a delegate meeting. The committee of a general Party branch or a Party branch is elected by a general membership meeting.

Article 31

In ordinary circumstances, a primary Party organization which has set up its own committee convenes a general membership meeting or delegate meeting once a year; a general Party branch holds a general membership meeting twice a year; a Party branch holds a general membership meeting once in every three months.

A primary Party committee is elected for a term of three years, while a general Party branch committee or a Party branch committee is elected for a term of two years. Results of the election of a secretary and deputy secretaries by a primary Party committee, general branch committee or branch committee shall be reported to the higher Party organizations for approval.

Article 32

The primary Party organizations are militant bastions of the Party in the basic units of society. Their main tasks are:

(1) To propagate and carry out the Party's line, principles and policies, the decisions of the Central Committee of the Party and other higher Party organizations, and their own decisions; to give full play to the exemplary vanguard role of Party members, and to unite and organize the cadres and the rank and file inside and outside the Party in fulfilling the tasks of their own units.

(2) To organize Party members to conscientiously study Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, study essential knowledge concerning the Party, and the Party's line, principles and policies, and acquire general, scientific and professional knowledge.

(3) To educate and supervise Party members, ensure their regular participation in the activities of the Party organization, see that Party members truly fulfil their duties and observe discipline, and protect their rights from encroachment.

(4) To maintain close ties with the masses, constantly seek their criticisms and opinions regarding Party members and the Party's work, value the knowledge and rationalization proposals of the masses and experts, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the masses, show concern for their material and cultural life and help them improve it, do effective ideological and political work among them, and enhance their political consciousness. They must correct, by proper methods, the erroneous ideas and unhealthy ways and customs that may exist among the masses, and properly handle the contradictions in their midst.

(5) To give full scope to the initiative and creativeness of Party members and the masses, discover advanced elements and talented people needed for the socialist cause, encourage them to improve their work and come up with innovations and inventions, and support them in these efforts.

(6) To admit new Party members, collect membership dues, examine and appraise the work and behaviour of Party members, commend exemplary deeds performed by them, and maintain and enforce Party discipline.

(7) To promote criticism and self-criticism, and expose and overcome shortcomings and mistakes in work. To educate Party and non-Party cadres; see to it that they strictly observe the law and administrative discipline and the financial and economic discipline and personnel regulations of the state; see to it that none of them infringe the interests of the state, the collective and the masses; and see to it that the financial workers including accountants and other professionals who are charged with enforcing laws and regulations in their own units do not themselves violate the laws and regulations, while at the same time ensuring and protecting their right to exercise their functions and powers independently in accordance with the law and guarding them against any reprisals for so doing.

(8) To educate Party members and the masses to raise their revolutionary vigilance and wage resolute struggles against the criminal activities of counter-revolutionaries and other saboteurs.

Article 33

In an enterprise or institution, the primary Party committee or the general branch committee or branch committee, where there is no primary Party committee, gives leadership in the work of its own unit. Such a primary Party organization discusses and decides on major questions of principle and at the same time ensures that the administrative leaders fully exercise their functions and powers, but refrains from substituting itself for, or trying to take over from, the administrative leaders. Except in special circumstances, the general branch committees and branch committees under the leadership of a primary Party committee only play a guarantory and supervisory role to see that the production targets or operational tasks assigned to their own units are properly fulfilled.

In Party or government offices at all levels, the primary Party organizations shall not lead the work of these offices. Their task here is to exercise supervision over all Party members, including the heads of these offices who are Party members, with regard to their implementation of the Party's line, principles and policies, their observance of discipline and the law, their contact with the masses, and their ideology, work style and moral character; and to assist the office heads to improve work, raise efficiency and overcome bureaucratic ways, keep them informed of the shortcomings and problems discovered in the work of these offices, or report such shortcomings and problems to the higher Party organizations.