A senior official at the top academy for Communist Party cadres has pledged that the school will strictly toe the party line after its teachers were criticised by President Xi Jinping for spreading “Western capitalist values”. “The Central Party School is no ordinary school,” school vice-president Xu Weixin said on Thursday. “We will be consistent with the party Central Committee, consciously safeguard its authority and maintain the reputation of the school when expressing our opinions in school lectures and in public.” The display of loyalty came after Xi demanded in December that the school make improvements “under the new circumstances”, a reference to challenges facing the nation at home and abroad. In a transcript of his speech published in the flagship Qiushi journal in May, Xi took the school to task, saying some teachers were spreading Western capitalist values and making reckless comments about party and state policies in their lectures. China’s President Xi Jinping warns Communist Party schools against ‘Western capitalist’ values Xi, who was the school’s president from 2007 to 2012, demanded that teachers stop finding fault, grumbling and making cynical remarks about the authorities’ major policies and that they ensure their teaching was in line with Central Committee directives. We will lead the officials who receive training here so that what they learn is consistent with the Central Committee Central Party School vice-president Xu Weixin In February, school professor Cai Xia came under fire from various party media after she wrote an article supporting retired property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang, who questioned Xi’s demand for loyalty from state media. Xu said on Thursday that the school would take steps to ensure staff aligned themselves with the Central Committee’s line. “We will lead the officials who receive training here so that what they learn is consistent with the Central Committee of the party through our teaching and administration,” Xu said. China’s Donald Trump: loud and proud Ren Zhiqiang offers a litmus test for opinion inside the Communist Party He also said the school had been increasing the number of its admissions and targeting different types of officials in recent years. Training was offered to middle-aged and young officials, officials of provincial, ministerial and department levels and also those from ethnic minorities. In an unprecedented move, the school had also offered short courses for county party secretaries, and party secretaries and presidents of nearly 800 universities, and workshops for advancing state-owned enterprise reforms. The training workload has become increasingly heavy Central Party School vice-president Xu Weixin Short courses were also offered as new laws and regulations were issued. “The training workload has become increasingly heavy,” Xu said. “Some 31,370 students have taken courses since 2013, a number that exceeded the total over the previous eight years.” The students’ academic work would both be closely assessed along with their school discipline, which would be factored into their promotion, Xu said. The party’s Organisation Department, which is in charge of cadre promotions, would also be notified of their results.