President Xi Jinping declared on Sunday that the Communist Party of China (CPC) has achieved overwhelming victory against corruption.
He said the Party would consolidate the milestone and never relent in bringing corrupt officials and others to justice.
The President told delegates in a report he presented at the 20th National Congress here in Beijing that “as long as the breeding grounds and conditions for corruption still exist, we must keep sounding the bugle, and never rest, not even for a minute, in our fight against corruption”.
Mr Jinping, the General Secretary of the CPC, pointed out that corruption was a cancer against the vitality and ability of the party, adding that fighting corruption was the most thorough kind of self-reform.
“We will continue to take simultaneous, coordinated, and comprehensive steps to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity, or desire to become corrupt. We must show zero tolerance in opposing corruption and punishing wrongdoing, and we must take forceful action to both prevent new cases and root out existing ones,” he noted.
President Jinping indicated that the Party would come down hard on corruption that involves both political and economic elements, resolutely prevent leading officials from acting for any interest group, and crack down on any collusion between officials and business people that undermines the political ecosystem.
So far, the CPC efforts in rooting out corruption has seen the Party handle a total of 4,516,000 cases as of June 2022, with 4,439,000 people punished for various offences, but President Jinping insists that firm action would be taken to swat “flies”, or corrupt low-ranking officials whose misconducts directly affect people’s lives.
Furthermore, he stated that investigating corrupt officials and their spouses was another surest way to address the canker of corruption.
“We will strictly investigate and handle cases where leading officials’ spouses, children, children’s spouses, other relatives, or staff uses their influence to seek personal gain.
“We will punish both bribe takers and givers and combat new and disguised forms of corruption. We will deepen international cooperation to combat corruption and establish an integrated mechanism for pursuing fugitives, preventing escape, and retrieving stolen assets,” President Jinping cautioned.
To address both the symptoms, President Jinping said the CPC would advance national anti-corruption legislation and promote a culture of integrity in the new era, while providing education and guidance aimed at strengthening the vigilance of Party members and officials so that they had no desire to engage in corruption.
“We will closely integrate and coordinate harsh punishment, regulation over the exercise of power, and education and guidance so as to continually secure more institutional achievements and greater efficiency in fighting corruption.”
FROM MALIK SULLEMANA, GREAT HALL, BEIJING
