AIDES close to patriarch Mr Deng Xiaoping have moved to shore up his authority in the wake of challenges by conservative elders including Mr Chen Yun.
For the first time since Mr Deng came to power in late 1978, central organs including the Propaganda Department have officially designated Deng Thought as the party and state ideology.
Analysts said this was in response to a series of messages that Mr Chen had sent senior cadres on his alternative approach to running the country and economy.
According to the People's Daily, the Propaganda Department has issued a circular to all party and government officials to include Deng Thought in their regular ideological study sessions.
The Central Committee Archives Research Office has recently published a primer called Selections of Comrade Deng Xiaoping's Theories of Building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, which is now required reading for cadres as well as students.
The circular said Deng Thought was a ''synthesis of the basic theories of Marxism and the reality and present-day characteristics of contemporary China''.