On November 18, 1986, the General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee issued the Notice on Several Issues Concerning Lowering the Average Age of the Leadership and the Notice on Several Issues Concerning Removing Incompetent Officials, both prepared by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

The notices said that the CPC must press forward the strategically important reform of lowering the average age of the leadership so as to maintain the normal age structure of the leadership team. They also stressed that the CPC should ensure that officials who have integrity, expertise and pioneering spirits can be promoted while firmly demoting disqualified ones.