A senior official of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee denied that the venue for training senior Party officials is "a social platform".

Luo Zongyi, spokesman of the Central Party School?

At a rare press conference on Tuesday, Li Jingtian, vice-president of the Central Party School, was asked to comment on criticism over whether senior Party officials actually study there.

The Central Party School is the main educational institution for the training of senior Party officials from across the country, such as provincial governors and ministers. It is also the think tank for decision making in the CPC, as well as a theoretical research institute.

However, rumors have circulated that some officials brought their secretaries in to attend classes and write theses on their behalf, while they themselves made use of the school as a platform to "meet people, make acquaintances, have a good meal and have a good rest".

Refuting the rumors, Li said the school has yet to find a single incidence of an official who brought a secretary to the school, though banquets are occasionally held. "The Central Party School is not secluded from the outside world. It will also be affected by unhealthy trends in society, but we want to serve as a purifier to cleanse our students' minds and souls," he said.

Citing an expression, he said in the past officials came under pressure if they did not attend banquets every few days while studying at the Party School, because they feared being regarded as unsociable and having few friends.

"But they will be under pressure if they do so now," he said, adding that the students largely use their time to study.

The students are required to attend theoretical lessons and lectures on major world issues, read a lot of books and exchange their work experiences.

More importantly, he said, the period of study at the Central Party School provides the officials with an opportunity "to stroll" - to chill out from their hectic schedules, as well as to reflect on the past and review their lessons.

The Central Party School has been regarded as a mysterious, important organ of the CPC Central Committee.

Late Chairmen Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi have both served as presidents of the Central Party School. President Hu Jintao worked as president of the institute, too, from 1993 to 2002 and its current president is Vice- President Xi Jinping.

Over the past three decades, the Central Party School has trained 60,000 senior and middle-ranking Party officials, as well as ministerial-level officials who are not Party members.

"The institute has now chosen to remove its mysterious veil in line with the more open attitude it has adopted, in order to foster officials with global perspectives," said Luo Zongyi, spokesman of the Central Party School, who made his debut at the press conference on Tuesday.

According to Luo, the school has invited foreign political leaders, scholars and entrepreneurs to give lectures, and formed academic cooperation bonds with research institutes and universities from nearly 30 countries.