Communist Party pledges to reach deeper into China’s tech, digital platform sectors

China’s ruling Communist Party will step up “party building” across the country’s tech sector and deploy digital tools to fight corruption, according to a landmark document adopted at a key political plenum.

These tools include a digital discipline inspection platform and a big-data supervision platform. The party will also crack down on corruption involving the internet, virtual currency, cross-border funds and blockchain technology, according to the document formally approved on Thursday at the conclusion of the fifth plenum of the 20th Central Committee.

Marking an ideological milestone, the document formally codified “Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building” as the defining blueprint for the party’s long-term governance, according to the full text released by state news agency Xinhua on Sunday.

The doctrine builds on Xi’s earlier “important thoughts” on party building – systematically outlined at a national symposium in June – and has now entered the party’s institutional canon.

The document places “Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building” alongside doctrines including Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory, cementing it as a pillar governing the party’s modern survival.

The document frames the party-building campaign as taking place amid “profound shifts in global dynamics, national conditions and the party’s internal landscape”.

The plenum document pointed to rising unilateralism, geopolitical turbulence and “accelerating breakthroughs in a new round of sci-tech revolution”, while on the domestic front, rapid digitalisation and complex economic shifts have altered the governance environment.

Internally, demographic shifts have propelled more post-reform-era cadres into the leadership ranks, testing traditional oversight.

The document warned that “impurities in ideology, organisation, and conduct” persist. It cited ideological wavering, warped priorities, slack discipline and outright corruption among some officials, while pointing to organisational blind spots in emerging sectors as evidence that safeguarding integrity had become more challenging.

The document breaks new ground by incorporating the tech sector and emerging digital domains into the party’s organisational and anti-corruption playbooks.

It requires non-public and mixed-ownership enterprises – specifically highlighting internet platforms and science and technology innovators – to include party-building work in corporate charters and operational management.

The document calls for a more systematic approach to party building in emerging sectors. Industry regulators, supervisory bodies and local authorities will all be responsible for tech oversight and increasing the party’s appeal, cohesion and influence.

“[We need to] strengthen party building across platform and tech innovation firms, and create an adaptable system that elevates oversight of internet companies to higher-ranking party organs,” the document states.

It also calls for guiding “new employment groups” – usually referring to gig workers or those who work for delivery and ride-hailing platforms – to “listen to the party and follow the party”.

Over the past decade, the explosive growth of China’s platform economy has generated hundreds of millions of flexible workers. Beijing has increasingly viewed this fluid workforce as an institutional blind spot. By embedding party units at tech enterprises and delivery hubs, authorities seek to ensure that the rapid growth of the digital economy does not outpace political cohesion.

On the disciplinary front, the resolution orders anti-corruption watchdogs to “grasp the new trends and characteristics of corruption” and ramp up development of a digital inspection and supervision system as well as supervision platforms that use interagency government data.

Disciplinary agencies have already deployed advanced technologies to automate detection of misdeeds.

In Zhengzhou, Henan province, investigators have used artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to flag collusion and price-rigging in state enterprise bids. Meanwhile, authorities in the northeastern city of Suifenhe have combined big data with DeepSeek AI models to detect fraud in social security payouts.

The South China Morning Post previously reported that disciplinary personnel said AI and big-data screening allowed authorities to verify whistle-blower tips within hours rather than months, mapping intricate corporate shareholding webs and cross-referencing vehicle-tracking data to uncover clandestine banquets attended by officials and business executives.

The resolution also establishes a blacklist targeting hi-tech corruption, focusing on illegal transfers via public blockchains and digital assets.

In January, state broadcaster CCTV detailed the downfall of Yao Qian, former head of the central bank’s digital currency research institute, who used crypto wallets controlled by his employees to receive cryptocurrency and cash bribes from firms seeking exchange listings.

Although mainland China banned virtual currency transactions in 2021, illicit actors have continued to exploit cross-border ledgers to move illegal proceeds.

By reconstructing transactions across public blockchains and combining algorithmic oversight with cross-border cooperation, inspectors are signalling that digital assets and hi-tech evasion will remain a primary battleground in China’s disciplinary drive.