China's anti-corruption campaign deepened, expanded in 2023

BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's war against corruption has continued through 2023, with deepened efforts in some key sectors and expanded coverage to safeguard the country's high-quality economic and social development.

Over the first three quarters of this year, a total of 54 officials registered at and supervised by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee have been investigated for violations by discipline inspection and supervision agencies nationwide. Relevant authorities also investigated 2,480 officials at department and bureau level and over 20,000 officials at county and division level.

Observers pointed out that, with China maintaining a strong stance on corruption, relevant efforts are being carried out in a more systemic manner and are achieving broader reach, thereby ensuring high-quality economic and social development.

STRONG STANCE

Over the first nine months this year, discipline inspection and supervision agencies across the country have dealt with over 1.28 million reports of suspected violations, conducting investigations in 470,000 cases.

"The numbers send a clear signal to society as a whole that the investigation and punishment of corruption will be carried out rigorously and without pause," said Peng Xinlin, a professor with the Law School of Beijing Normal University.

Peng noted that the strong stance against corruption has effectively punished relevant violations while deterring new cases, ensuring that officials do not have the audacity to become corrupt.

KEY SECTORS

In November, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision announced that Zhang Hongli, former vice president of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, was under investigation for suspected severe violations of Party discipline and laws.

The investigation of Zhang is an example of China's anti-corruption campaign that is now reaching more key areas -- from financial and medical sectors to law enforcement and judiciary.

"Take the financial sector as an example," said Zhang Lei, another professor at the Law School of Beijing Normal University. "Corruption cases in this field are often conducted in a more professional manner and are more difficult to detect."

However, relevant violations may lead to financial risks, seriously undermining the country's financial security, Zhang said, adding that the current campaign reveals a strong resolve in dealing with relevant problems.

WORK CONDUCT

In the first 10 months this year, a total of 79,721 people have been punished for violating the Party's eight-point decision on improving work conduct. More than 114,000 officials, including seven at provincial and ministerial level, have been criticized for minor misconduct.

Among the violations, over one third concerned failure to properly perform their duties to serve economic and social development or environmental protection, which had hindered high-quality development.

Undesirable work styles are correlated to the problem of corruption, according to scholars.

Officials' failure to fulfill their responsibilities may happen in a different form, but are no less harmful to economic and social development, Zhang said.

BROADER REACH

The anti-graft campaign in 2023 also featured strict investigation and punishment of both those who take bribes and those who offer them.

Zhuang Deshui, a scholar on clean governance at Peking University, stressed the necessity of punishing the bribe givers in bribery cases, as it will curb the opportunity for them to prey on the officials.

From January to September, China also investigated 46,000 incumbent or former village officials.

The Party's efforts in exercising full and rigorous self-governance have expanded to cover more people at the community level, said Song Wei, a clean governance scholar with Tsinghua University.

Such efforts have enhanced the sense of fulfillment, happiness and security for our people in a solid manner, Song said.