Xi Jinping vows unswerving fight against corruption

Key Words: Xi Jinping; Li Keqiang; Zhang Dejiang; Yu Zhengsheng; Liu Yunshan; Zhang Gaoli; Wang Qishan; anti-corruption; corruption

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BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), vowed to unswervingly fight against corruption during a CPC disciplinary watchdog meeting on Tuesday.

Xi said that "the mainstream of our cadres and Party members is good. But we should soberly recognize that corruption is still prone to occur or happen quite frequently in certain areas."

He added that some major law violation cases have had a negative impact and the anti-corruption situation is still severe.

He stressed that the fight against corruption is a long-term, complicated and arduous task. Anti-corruption efforts must be consistent and will never slacken.

"We must have the resolution to fight every corrupt phenomenon, punish every corrupt official and constantly eradicate the soil which breeds corruption, so as to earn people's trust with actual results," he said.

Xi made the vow during a speech at a plenary meeting of the CPC's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

Xi also stressed in his speech to fight corruption in a comprehensive way, address both its symptoms and root cause and combine punishment with prevention, with the emphasis on prevention.

He urged those who attended the meeting to unswervingly push forward the building of clean governance and the anti-corruption war.

"Power should be reined within the cage of regulations," said Xi as he ordered enhanced restraint and supervision on the use of power.

A disciplinary, prevention and guarantee mechanism should be set up to ensure that people do not dare to, are not able to or can not easily commit corruption, Xi said.

"We must not relax the use of penalties if we want to rule Party members strictly," he said.

Xi said the Party should crack down on "tigers" and "flies" at the same time by dealing with illegal activities of officials on the one hand and tackling malpractices and corruption cases, which closely impact people, on the other.

The CPC's resolution and distinct attitude on handling serious rule-breaking among some of its cadres, including high-ranking officials, showed it is "absolutely no empty talk" that one will be severely punished for law or Party discipline violations no matter how high a person's official ranking is, he said.

"No exception will be made when it comes to Party disciplines and law," Xi said. "Cases will be investigated completely and no leniency will be meted out no matter who is involved."

He continued, "Party cadres at various levels should keep in mind that no one can enjoy absolute power outside of the law."

Anyone who exercises power should serve the people, be accountable for the people and consciously accept supervision of the people, Xi said.

The general secretary called for efforts to enhance supervision of chief leaders, earnestly implement democratic centralism, and improve the mechanism of publicizing governing activities so as to ensure high-ranking officials do not abuse their powers for personal gain.

A fight against privilege should be waged in combating corruption and building a clean government, Xi said.

He urged the Party to adopt effective measures to curb privilege among its members as it is crucial for the Party to keep its vitality.

Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan and Zhang Gaoli, members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, were present at the meeting.

Wang Qishan, secretary of the CCDI and also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, presided over Tuesday's meeting.

The CCDI's plenary session opened on Monday.