BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Safeguarding the authority of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and its unified and centralized leadership is "the supreme political principle and the fundamental political rule for the whole Party," according to an official statement released Tuesday.

The statement was issued after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, which was presided over by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.