China will maintain "strict" governance over the long run, the country's top anti-graft bodies said on Tuesday.
The Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission said on their website that they "vigorously enforced the law and resolutely investigated and dealt with corruption cases intertwined with political and economic issues" last year.
The strict rule of the CPC is always effective, the determination for zero tolerance of corruption must not waver in the slightest and the efforts to punish the corrupt must not be weakened in any way.
The Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission
"The strict rule of the CPC is always effective, the determination for zero tolerance of corruption must not waver in the slightest and the efforts to punish the corrupt must not be weakened in any way," they said.
In January last year, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, pointed out at the fourth plenary session of the 19th CCDI that the Party should be consistently and firmly governed in a strict manner and the "main tone of strictness" should be maintained for a long period of time.
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The CCDI also adopted a communique at the session vowing to achieve high-standard intraparty and State supervision to boost the country's system of governance.
Over the past year, anti-graft bodies have investigated a number of high-level officials for violations of discipline, including Zhang Zhinan, former vice-governor of Fujian province, Sun Lijun, former vice-minister of public security, and Zhang He, former vice-governor of Hebei province.
The CCDI also expelled a number of officials from the Party, including Zhao Zhengyong, former Party chief of Shaanxi province, who was later sentenced to death with a reprieve for bribes, Hu Huaibang, former secretary of the Party committee of China Development Bank, and Zhang Qi, a former member of the standing committee of Hainan's provincial Party committee.
The CCDI and the supervisory commission said building a system that ensures officials "dare not, cannot and will not" be corrupt is the basic policy of the anti-corruption campaign and an important strategy for the strict governance of the Party and government. In the past year they applied methods of punishment and deterrence, improving awareness as well as institutional constraints to fully implement that policy.
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In June, China's top legislature also adopted the Law on Administrative Discipline for Public Officials, which came into force on July 1. The law strengthened the supervision of all officials to ensure those who exercise public power show integrity in politics and practice and observe ethical standards.
Accepting bribes and giving bribes are intolerable, the anti-graft bodies said. The authorities had tracked a number of people suspected of giving bribes last year, set up a blacklist of bribe-payers and firmly busted the network of power and money transactions, they said.
"Surrender themselves to police "became a regular phrase in case reports last year following the CCDI's fourth plenary session, which proposed that "those who surrender voluntarily will be dealt with leniently".
That led to a large number of officials who violated laws and disciplines, including Wang Like, a former member of the standing committee of Jiangsu's provincial Party committee, turning themselves in, with a number of violators given lighter penalties. Liu Shiyu, former head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, was placed on two years' probation within the Party.
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"It shows the tough line on corruption continues to deter and the effectiveness of governance continues to improve," the anti-graft bodies said.
In order to eliminate the problem of gang crimes, authorities also targeted "protective umbrellas" and "networks", referring to public officials who provide shelter for gangsters.
From January to November, disciplinary and supervisory authorities at all levels handled 29,600 gang-related corruption cases, gave administrative penalties to 25,400 Party members and public officials, and transferred 2,383 cases to judicial bodies.
After investigation of each case, authorities conducted in-depth analysis to study the root cause and loopholes so that whenever a case is handled, deterrence and improvement of governance can be put in place.
Some provincial-level regions launched thorough investigations of corruption over the past 20 years. For example, in the first half of 2020, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region conducted rectification work in the coal industry and busted many corrupt officials.
Two prisons in Heilongjiang province and five prisons in Sichuan province also launched investigations into issues related to illegal commutation of sentences, the granting of paroles and people temporarily serving sentences outside prison. They discovered more than 80,000 cases involving multiple illegal commutations and false medical appraisals.
