Anti-corruption momentum continues as CPC plenum concludes

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The sixth plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee concluded on Thursday afternoon, with the four-day long meeting of major Party members expected to cement the CPC’s determination in enforcing strict Party governance, and to mark itself as another milestone in the ongoing anti-corruption campaign. 

The bulk of members and alternate members of the CPC Central Committee who gathered in Beijing for the sixth plenary session discussed issues involving the Party. The CPC leaders approved two documents on discipline in the Party, including the norms of political life within the Party under the new situation, and a regulation on intra-Party supervision, according to a communique released after the meeting.

Through the series of meetings, the gathered members sought to enhance the capabilities of the Party in terms of improving and renovating itself, as well as in its tackling of corruption.

The plenum called on all its members to "closely unite around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core."

"Power should be restricted by a cage of regulations." This was a line from a speech by the Party’s General Secretary Xi Jinping that defines one of the key focal points of the Sixth Plenary Session: identifying the need to guarantee that officials dare not, cannot and do not want to be corrupt.

“The sixth plenary session agenda is part of the quest for a permanent mechanism to limit power and curb corruption,” China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency wrote in a commentary on Wednesday.

The current and ongoing campaign to crack down on corruption, which has been effectively in place nationwide for four years, was launched by the current CPC leadership after the 18th CPC National Congress in late 2012. Since its launch, the Party’s leadership has cracked down on corruption and laziness in office, through measures and policies including the "eight-point" guidelines against bureaucracy and extravagance, inspections of central and local governments, and a "mass line" campaign launched to bridge the gaps between officials and the public.

The attitude of the people towards the Party is of vital significance. The hope is that by enforcing stricter Party governance, the people’s trust will increase, boosting confidence and satisfaction with the Party and the government.

ANTI-GRAFT FIGHT REACHES EVERY CORNER

32 officials at or above provincial level have been put on trial this year, and 14 of them have been punished for graft. A noteworthy development is that most of the trials have been open to the public, except for a few that were held as closed-door sessions for national security reasons.

In the communique released on Thursday, the CPC leaders of the plenary session endorsed prior decisions to expel four former senior officials from the Party. The previous decisions to expel them were made by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

In just the past 30 days, eight former senior officials have been sentenced in corruption trials. The fact that the judiciary turned its attention to them in the weeks and days prior to the major Party meeting can be viewed as a strong signal that the plenary session would focus on tightening and improving Party governance along a Party development path.

However, this year’s achievements in the anti-graft campaign are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Party’s crackdown on corruption. According to official data, CPC disciplinary branches across China launched over a million investigations between 2013 and September 2016. More than a million Party members were given warnings or punishments, or their cases were transferred to judicial authorities.

It has been reported that over 100 centrally-administered officials, who were considered as high-ranking, have been put under investigation due to allegations of abuse of power and bribery. 

As part of the Party’s efforts to tackle corruption, a number of inspection teams have been sent to various levels of government and state-owned enterprises (SOE). The scope of the work carried out by the inspection teams continues to double every year. In 2013, 20 government departments and SOEs were inspected, rising to 40 in 2014 and more than 80 in 2015.

A recent Chinese television program showcased the achievements of the campaign, wheeling out corrupt officials to confess to their crimes and apologize. The program stressed that China should always promote the building of a clean government and the fight against corruption.

“Political life lies at the foundation of strict Party governance,” read the Xinhua commentary. “With such a stern investigation, the CPC has also driven home the message that it is firmly resolved to address corruption, which it believes could threaten the very survival of the Party and the state.”