十六大报告强调要加强和改进党的建设，并对基层党建工作提出了明确要求：“党的基层组织是党的全部工作和战斗力的基础，应该成为贯彻‘三个代表’重要思想的组织者、推动者和实践者。要坚持围绕中心、服务大局、拓宽领域、强化功能、扩大党的工作的覆盖面，不断提高党的基层 The report at the 16th CPC National Congress emphasized the need to strengthen and improve party building and set forth clearly the requirements for grass-roots party building: "The grass-roots party organizations are the foundation for all the party’s work and fighting power and should be the organizations that carry out the important thinking of the ’three represents.’ People, promoters and practitioners of the Party should adhere to the principle of serving the overall interests of the party, broadening the scope of the field, strengthening its functions and expanding the coverage of the party’s work so as to continuously raise the grassroots level of the party