To ensure that the ranks of the cadres become more revolutionary, younger in average age, better educated and more professionally competent is a long-established principle of the Central Committee of the Party. During the organizational reform, we will relieve our many veteran cadres who are advanced in age of their heavy responsibilities in "front line" posts and at the same time enable, them to continue their service to the Party, the state and society by utilizing their rich experience in leadership work. We will promote large numbers of energetic young and middle-aged cadres who possess both political integrity and ability to various leading posts in good time, so that they can be tempered over a longer period practically and effectively by working with older cadres and taking over responsibilities from them and so that the leading bodies at all levels can continuously, absorb new life-blood and talent to maintain their vigour. As for persons who rose to prominence by "rebellion," who are seriously factionalist in their ideas, who have indulged in beating, smashing and looting, who oppose the line followed by the Party's Central Committee since its Third Plenary Session, or who have seriously violated the law and discipline, we must remove with a firm hand those among them who are still in leading posts. Persons who have violated criminal law must be investigated and dealt with according to law. Such people, of course, must never be put up as candidates for promotion to leading posts. The co-operation between old and new cadres and the succession of the new to the old are matters important to the continuation of our socialist cause. We believe that all our Party comrades, especially our old comrades, will certainly be able to accomplish this historic task with a high revolutionary sense of responsibility.

We must work strenuously to strengthen the education and training of cadres in order to prepare large numbers of specialized personnel needed for socialist modernization. In the future, in our use and promotion of cadres, we must attach importance to educational background and academic records as well as to experience and achievements in work. Party schools at all levels, cadre schools run by government organizations and enterprises, and especially designated institutions of higher learning and specialized secondary schools should all, as required by socialist modernization and in their different capacities, revise their teaching plans and shoulder the regular training of cadres. All functionaries on the job should be trained in rotation. After such training, appropriate adjustments can be made in their jobs through assessment of their actual performance. The training of all cadres in rotation is an important strategic measure for enhancing their quality. All Party members and all cadres should have a full understanding of the needs of our modernization programme and be active in study.

Third, strengthen the Party's work among the workers, peasants and intellectuals and establish close ties between the Party and the masses.

Our Party is powerful because it represents the interests of the broadest masses of the people. The Party's leading position in the life of the state determines that its activities vitally affect the interests of the masses, and at the same time involves the danger that Party members, and Party cadres in particular, may become isolated from the masses. This requires that we strive all the more consciously to preserve and carry forward the Party's fine tradition of applying the mass line and effectively strengthen the Party's close ties with the people of all strata of society.

Our Party is a party of the working class, and it must make a point of relying on the masses of workers. The composition of the working class in China has undergone a big change in recent years, with large numbers of new workers replacing old ones. Many old workers who are Party members have retired, many young people have joined the ranks of the working class, and group after group of workers who are Party members have been transferred to managerial jobs. As a result, there are fewer Party members on the production front, and the harder the labour, the smaller the number of Party members. This grave situation has weakened the direct link between the Party and the industrial workers. From now on, we must greatly strengthen Party work on the production front, encourage Party members fitted for working there to do so, and at the same time admit into the Party outstanding workers who are qualified for membership. The Party's work in the trade unions must be greatly strengthened so that they become a strong transmission belt between the Party and the masses of workers. The system of congresses of workers and staff must be implemented in earnest so that these congresses and the trade unions can both play an important role in ideological education, enterprise management and the improvement of the workers' living standards.