text: 21st century The party operates on the Leninist principle of democratic centralism. From 2007 to 2009, Hu Jintao promoted intra-party party democracy (dangnei minzhu, 党内民主) in an effort to decrease the party's focus on top-down decision-making.
  In December 2008, more than 350 intellectual and cultural leaders, including Liu Xiaobo, issued Charter 08. The Charter said China remains the only large world power to still retain an authoritarian system that so infringes on human rights, and "This situation must change! Political democratic reforms cannot be delayed any longer!"
  Chinese premier Wen Jiabao called for more democracy in 2011, having generally been regarded as a political reformer during his career. However, Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said in 2011 that "we have made a solemn declaration that we will not employ a system of multiple parties holding office in rotation", having said similar remarks during his career.
  The CCP's Core Socialist Values campaign introduced during its 18th National Congress in 2012, which lists democracy as one of its four national values.
  After Xi Jinping became CCP general secretary in 2012, Amnesty International said that human rights in China have become worse. Human rights abuses are rejected by the government, which insists the country is run according to law.