Wei Jianxing, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee vowed on January 12 that the Communist Party of China (CPC) will fight against corruption this year with a firm hand.

He said that Party discipline inspection and supervision departments completed investigations into 130,414 cases and punished 132,447 corrupt officials last year.

Wei, also secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said at the commission's fourth plenary session that among those punished, 17 were minister-level officials, and more than 4,400 had responsibilities for bureaus, prefectures, departments, division offices, or counties.

Several officials including the former Party secretary of the city of Ningbo Xu Yunhong, the former deputy governor of Jiangxi Province Hu Changqing, and the deputy chairman of the China International Trust And Investment Corporation Jin Deqin were all punished for bribery or embezzling public funds.

Wei also revealed that the country closed 110 illegal medicine markets and 7,594 medicine plants, and investigated 8,745 related cases in order to rectify unsound practices.

In addition, a total of 19,458 companies run by the People's Liberation Army, the armed police, the police, and legal departments were shut down, and 6,494 were put in the hands of local governments, according to Wei.

He pointed out that despite this success, rampant corruption has not been effectively curbed and the situation remains severe.

To step up the anti-corruption campaign, Wei said that family members of high ranking officials are restrained to running businesses or assuming certain positions within the administration scope of their parents or spouses, and they are forbidden to receive gifts and money, by taking advantage of the influence of their parents or spouses.

Officials are not allowed to take part in tourist activities arranged by their subordinates at the expense of public funds, or use public money for private computers or Internet access.

Wei said the Party will make great efforts to investigate several major cases, especially in the areas of finance, real estate, land leasing, materials procurement and other significant sectors.

Attention should be paid to smuggling, tax evasion, losses of state-owned assets, and official malpractice. Unsound practices in the field of medicine will be especially targeted, he said.

Wei urged governments at all levels to adopt a strict fiscal system that will prevent corruption, and to inform the public about their administrative activities.

State-owned enterprise should redouble their efforts to improve their working methods, and their leaders must strictly observe all relevant regulations. A responsibility system aimed at building clean government should be consolidated, he added, and stressed the importance of education in this regard.