Photo: VCG

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping stressed in a report to the 20th CPC National Congress that the CPC must meet the overall requirements for Party building in the new era and improve the system for exercising full and rigorous self-governance. Among them is "winning tough, protracted battle against corruption." Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the country's discipline inspection and supervision authorities have filed more than 4.6 million cases, with formal criminal cases brought against 553 centrally administered officials, 25,000 officials of leading roles of departments or equivalents and 182,000 officials at the county level. The "battle against corruption on a scale unprecedented in history" has achieved overwhelming victory and been fully consolidated. 

People have noticed that the topic of anti-corruption has become less popular compared with 10 years ago, which is the true manifestation of the overwhelming victory in the fight against corruption at the social level. Relevant social controversies have become less, which shows that they have more trust and confidence in the anti-corruption work of the Party and the country. The iron-clad facts convince people that anti-corruption can be carried out so thoroughly - no one can be exempted, no matter the region or field, no matter in-service or retirement. Corrupt officials are bound to be held accountable. Now, who would consider this "a campaign-style approach to anti-corruption"? Who dares not to be in awe of the Party's Eight-Point Regulation?

If we look back today, we can feel more of the weight of the anti-corruption pledge Xi made after the 18th CPC National Congress, "No matter who it is, or how senior their position, if they violate Party discipline or national law, they will be seriously dealt with and punished. This is not an empty sentence." Frankly speaking, 10 years ago, there were indeed many people who doubted the CPC could completely fight corruption, and they even thought it was unsustainable. Corruption is a chronic disease that has not been eradicated in human society for thousands of years. It is still a common problem faced by all countries, especially in the process of industrialization. How will the CPC solve it?

The deterrence of "don't dare to be corrupt" is fully demonstrated, the cage of "can't be corrupt" is getting firmer, and the consciousness of "don't want to be corrupt" has been significantly enhanced. The overwhelming victory in the fight against corruption profoundly shows that the CPC is a party that has the courage to reform itself and fighting corruption is the most thorough kind of self-reform there is. In reality, a large number of developing countries have fallen into political turmoil due to the difficulty in solving the problem of corruption, and their economic and social development has also stagnated, while Western political parties are generally inseparable from capital, and they even speak on behalf of capital. "Legalizing corruption" and "compromising to corruption" are what many people think of Western polities. 

Against this background, the great achievement the CPC has made in fighting corruption by relying on its institutional and legal advantages in the new era is not only historic, but also of global significance.

In the decade of the new era, the people's satisfaction with the construction of a clean government and anti-corruption work has risen from 75 percent 10 years ago to 97.4 percent. In this process, many misunderstandings have been corrected. The fantasies of "getting rich and being promoted" have fallen flat, and the admonition that "being an official and getting rich must be separated" is awakening; a large number of stubborn and chronic diseases have also been eliminated. The corruption on the tip of the tongue, the corruption on the wheel, and the unruly customs in the clubhouse have been lambasted. A few years ago, when the world was paying attention to China's miracle, Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao reiterated that in addition to the story of economic growth, China has a story that may be "less eye-catching" - a story of restoring civilization.

The reason why the CPC dares to reform itself is not only courage, but also its nature - it represents the fundamental interests of the vast majority of the Chinese people, it has no special interests of its own, and it never represents the interests of any interest groups, any power groups, or any privileged class.

It is precisely in order to ensure that the Party "preserves its essence, color and character" that came the political courage of "offending a few thousand rather than fail 1.4 billion," and the various campaigns of "fighting tigers," "swatting flies" and "hunting foxes." This is not only a vivid reflection of the purpose and nature of the CPC, but also an important starting point for the outside world to observe and understand the CPC in the new era.

In his report to the 20th CPC National Congress, Xi said, "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."In a sense, the fight against corruption is also credibility building. The political commitment of the CPC is by no means just a lip service. The political character of fitting its deeds to its words and the political ability to do what it says are also demonstrated through the fight against corruption. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC in the new era has united and led the people to achieve the set goals with its unswerving commitment, be it the fight against poverty, the protracted battles of preventing and resolving financial risks, or the battle to bring back blue skies.

"It takes 10 years to forge a perfect sword." Time will continue to prove that with the Party's self-reform leading the social reform, the CPC has not only a clear attitude, but also real actions. This kind of endowment and characteristics and this vision and responsibility are the development logic and victory code of the world's largest ruling party.