The 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will hold its fourth plenary session in September, focusing on improving the Party's capacity in governing the country, official sources said Friday.

The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committe made the decision at a meeting Friday. It was decided that the Political Bureau will deliver a report on its work at the plenary session.

Friday's meeting was presided over by Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

It will be the first time the Political Bureau makes a work report to the Central Committee since the party adopted a set of regulations on internal supervision in February.

The regulations stipulate that the Political Bureau should deliver a work report to the central committee. The stipulation has been hailed by experts as a major step forward by the party to expand inner-party democracy.

According to the sources, the Political Bureau's meeting Friday concluded that improving the party's ruling capacity is an issue of strategic importance to the socialist cause and the stability of the country.

The Political Bureau held that the Party must vigorously strengthen its ruling capacity in order to realize the three historic tasks of pushing forward the modernization drive, completing reunification of the motherland, and safeguarding world peace and promoting common development.

After 55 years in power, the Party has become increasingly mature and strong. It has experienced difficulties, overcome risks and challenges and made achievements that attracted the world's attention, the Political Bureau said.

The Political Bureau called on the whole party to emancipate its mind, carefully sum up experiences of ruling, consolidate and improve party building, resolve outstanding problems facing the party and raise its ruling capacity to a new high.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2004)