Top CPC Leader Pledges Greater Focus on Fighting Corruption

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, February 20, 2003

Top CPC Leader Pledges Greater Focus on Fighting Corruption

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Chinese Communist Party leader Hu Jintao said Wednesday the Party would fight harder against corruption, with more effort to prevent corruption through improved education, internal Party democracy, a sound legal system and institutional reform.

Addressing the just-concluded 2nd Plenary Session of the CPC's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Hu said corruption remained a problem in China despite the Party's efforts in the past decade.

Hu, general secretary of the CPC's Central Committee, urged the Party to continue working hard to fight corruption.

He said the need to battle corruption in the country remained serious and the task was still difficult.

On future efforts to improve the Party's style of operating and anti-corruption drive, Hu said China should do more to punish corrupt officials according to the law and Party discipline.

Priority should be given to corruption committed by middle- and high-ranking cadres which greatly harmed the image of the Party and the country and had serious consequences, he said.

He stressed the need to deepen institutional reform to set up a system to prevent corruption, while greater efforts should be made to promote internal Party democracy in a bid to improve checks and supervision on how leading cadres used their power.

Among those attending were Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin,Zeng Qinghong, Li Changchun, Luo Gan and Wu Guanzheng, members of the 9-seat Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

The watchdog of the Communist Party of China (CPC) also issued a communique outlining major goals for the year in the struggle against corruption.

According to the document, the 2nd Plenary Session of the CPC's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection held from Feb. 17 to 19 in Beijing drew up major anti-corruption tasks for 2003.

They include moves to ban leading cadres from using their power to intervene in bidding for construction projects, transfer of land-use rights for commercial purposes, and development and management involving real estate and other business activities for personal or family gain.

The session also drew up new policies regarding leading executives of state-owned enterprises, prohibiting them from using their power to gain benefits for themselves or their relatives in business activities, such as procurement and project developments.

They are also banned from investing in their firms or any other firms they have business dealings with.

According to the document, the commission will fight harder against corruption this year, and move to prevent government departments and institutions from infringing the public interest by imposing unauthorized fees.

The communique calls for institutional reforms to set up a system to prevent corruption, and improve checks on how leading cadres use their power.

Statistics from the Supreme People's Procuratorate -- China's national watchdog on corruption -- revealed more than 200,000 criminal cases involving government officials have been investigated since 1998. These include 5,500 major cases involving bribery or misuse of public funds of more than 1 million yuan (US$120,000).

More than 12,000 county and division-level officials or higher have been sued, including 25 officials at ministerial level in this period.

Corruption has been a major concern among the Chinese public in recent years. A survey conducted by the Beijing-based China Mainland Marketing Research Company showed corruption, unemployment and the widening income gap were considered the top three social problems last year by citizens.

Pressing on with the punishment of corrupt officials, the Chinese Government and the CPC have in recent years laid emphasis on the prevention of corruption, trying to probe deeper to dig out the root of the crime.

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