Beijing used a lengthy justification of its commitment to one-party rule to silence domestic dissatisfaction with the Communist Party's monopoly on power and calls from abroad for greater political freedom, analysts said. The white paper, titled 'On China's Political Party System', dedicated many of its 15,000 words to explaining why rule by the Communist Party was necessary and the right choice for the country. The mainland has in recent years used such papers to counter criticism of its policies on issues such as human rights and military expansion. In 2005, it issued a 74-page white paper on its democratic achievements after the US government issued an even lengthier report detailing what it viewed as the mainland's lack of democracy. The latest white paper serves as a rebuttal to negative assessment of the recent party congress, which critics say only strengthened an entrenched autocratic system. 'It's very necessary to issue such a report at this moment,' Zhuang Congsheng , director of the policy research office under the party's United Front Work Department, was quoted as saying by Xinhua. 'The international community has little knowledge about China's political system; as a result misunderstanding exists. We feel the need to introduce [the party system] in a comprehensive and systematic way.' The white paper said the mainland was going to uphold and perfect 'the system of multiparty co-operation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party', because this was the only political system that fits the nation's development mode. Foreign critics routinely criticise Beijing for doing too little to bring about political reform to match the economic changes that have taken place in the past 25 years. But the recent party congress has drawn global attention to the mainland's murky political system. On the surface, the congress 'democratically' elected a new leadership team for the next five years. The Communist Party, increasingly media-savvy, made a conscious effort to project a transparent and modern image. However, despite the peripheral fanfare, little was revealed of what took place. Analysts said the white paper also aimed to rationalise the one-party rule mechanism to a domestic audience, which had expected more political liberalisation to emerge from the 17th party congress. 'Many people had hoped the party congress could in some way or another trigger the beginning of a real political opening, but they were disappointed,' Hu Xingdou , a Beijing-based political scientist, said. The central leadership has been under pressure both at home and abroad to explain the lack of political reforms in the party congress. The white paper was one way to declare where they stood and where they were going, Professor Hu said. The white paper again made it clear that Beijing rejected western-style multiparty democracy. Analysts said the eight so-called democratic parties did play a role in the country's political system besides being mere decoration. But their existence largely served as a defence of the perpetuation of the monopoly of power by the party. 'Their opinions on how to improve state-run business and the rural situation did get some central attention,' said Mao Shoulong , a professor of political science at Renmin University.