Xi stresses winning anti-graft fight

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) on Jan 8, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called on Monday for targeted and sustained efforts to win the tough and protracted battle against corruption, saying that the battle must be fought with resilience and perseverance.

The pledge from Xi, who is also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, came as he addressed the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Party's top disciplinary body.

The annual session is being held from Monday to Wednesday in Beijing.

Xi highlighted during the session the need to develop a sober understanding of new situations and trends in the Party's anti-graft efforts, including the breeding grounds and conditions that give rise to corruption problems, despite the CPC's overwhelming victory over corruption in the past decade.

He expounded on key theories for advancing the Party's self-reform, saying that efforts in this regard must aim for the strategic goal of breaking away from historical cycles of rise and fall by strengthening the system for exercising comprehensive and strict governance of the Party.

Xi has previously highlighted self-reform as one of the solutions for the CPC, the world's largest Marxist ruling party with over 98 million members and over 5 million grassroots organizations last year, to ensure its long-term governance.

Over the past year, the CCDI announced investigations into a total of 45 high-ranking officials, the largest number in the past decade. Many of the officials who were placed under investigation had already retired from their posts, in a sign that retirement would not allow officials to evade investigations into their wrongdoings.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) on Jan 8, 2024. Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi attended the meeting. [Photo/Xinhua]

Going forward, Xi called for sustained steps to eradicate the environment and conditions that give rise to corruption problems.

He reiterated the need to take concerted steps to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity or desire to become corrupt, saying that the depth and scope of the fight against corruption must be expanded relentlessly.

It is important to take targeted and precise measures, employing multiple approaches to gradually reduce recurring issues and prevent the spread of new problems, he added.

The general secretary stressed that the Party must keep up the intensity of the fight against corruption, saying that there must be no turning back, relaxation or show of mercy.

The call to action in fighting corruption must be constant, he added.

Xi called for the fight against corruption involving collusion between politics and businesspeople to be a top priority, saying that resolute steps must be adopted to combat profit-seeking behavior based on the abuse of power and prevent various interest groups and power entities from infiltrating the political sphere.

Sectors such as finance, State-owned enterprises, energy, medicine and infrastructure must be targeted, and petty corruption and small wrongdoings must be investigated to provide the public with a greater sense of gain.

Last year, the CCDI prioritized SOEs in its two rounds of political inspection campaigns, covering 57 enterprises administered by the central government and another five in the financial sector.

According to the anti-graft body, a total of 67,000 cases of wrongdoings in sectors concerning public well-being were investigated and addressed during the January-November period.

Xi pointed out that the essence of corruption lies in the abuse of power, and greater attention should be directed at the ways in which power is exercised while policies are formulated, decisions are made and approvals are granted.

He highlighted the importance of improving the system for constraining the allocation and functions of power in order to "plug the institutional loopholes".

To intensify the drive to punish bribery, Xi called for serious actions to investigate and prosecute individuals who consistently drag officials into corruption, adding that greater efforts must be made to recover and rectify the illegitimate gains obtained through bribery.

Xi also underlined persistent efforts to purify the political atmosphere, while stressing the importance of abolishing "unspoken rules", establishing clear guidelines and resolutely preventing the forming of small circles.

He required vigorous measures to combat various forms of political deception, and to strictly prevent the principle of commodity exchange from being brought into the Party.