By Zhao Bing (People’s Daily)
China’s anti-graft campaign has attracted widespread attention from both the Party and the public. The campaign has proven remarkably successful since President Xi Jinping led the fight against corruption after taking office in 2012. Anti-corruption is believed to be a key topic at the upcoming two sessions, which begins on March 3.
Xi stated the campaign would target what he called “tigers” and “flies”, or high- and low-level officials. In 2014, a total 68 “tigers” were investigated for corruption, including former security chief Zhou Yongkang, former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission Xu Caihou and former director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee Ling Jihua. Among which, 30 have been charged and face trial. A recent opinion poll showed that the pubic approved of the Party’s anti-corruption campaign.
Aiming at stamping out extravagant spending and excessive formalities among Party members, the CPC Central Committee announced its “eight rules” at the end of 2012. In 2014, the CPC punished 71,748 officials for violating the rules, 23,646 of whom were handed administrative and Party disciplinary punishment, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China’s top anti-graft watchdog.
In order to combat the corrupt officials who have fled overseas with illicit money to escape prosecution, China established an office of anti-corruption fugitive repatriation and asset recovery. The government also strengthened bilateral and multilateral cooperation under the UN Convention against Corruption, and has jointly worked with the US, Canada and Australia in its anti-corruption efforts. CCDI revealed that in 2014, China had successfully bring back more than 500 suspected corrupt officials from overseas and recovered more than 3 billion yuan ($483 million) in assets.
Inspection tours have been a highlighted feature of China’s 2014 anti-corruption work. Three rounds of inspections have been conducted in 2014, covering 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. The more flexible and effective “special inspection” was first implemented in 2014. Inspections at the provincial level have also been effective.
In order to strengthen supervision of the top CPC and government organs, CCDI set up resident offices in seven CPC central and top government organizations, including the CPC Central Committee’s General Office, the Organization Department, the Publicity Department and United Front Work Department, as well as the National People’s Congress.
Analysts say the CPC has been successful in reducing and preventing corruption and is steadfast in its efforts to“restrain power in the cage of regulations.”
