NPC Photo: VCG

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has recently issued the revised Regulations on CPC Disciplinary Action, as part of ongoing efforts to tackle unique challenges facing a party as large as the CPC and improve the systems for practicing comprehensive and rigorous self-governance. It fully demonstrates the CPC's firm determination and strong will to promote continual reform, China's top anti-graft body said on Thursday.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Central Committee has revised the Regulations on three occasions, adhering to a strict tone and continuously improving disciplinary rules, which has sent a strong signal that the Party's governance will become more resolute and disciplinary actions will be more stringent, according to a release from the website of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision.

The revised regulations further comprehensively strengthen discipline and rules of the Party, and provide solid disciplinary safeguards to build China into a strong country and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a path to Chinese modernization, according to the release.

China has continued its anti-corruption efforts through 2023, intensifying measures in some key sectors and expanding its scope to safeguard the country's high-quality economic and social development.

The CPC's anti-corruption efforts this year have reached an unprecedented level, which have involved sectors such as finance, education and healthcare, Zhang Xixian, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Zhang emphasized the need to further strengthen the anti-corruption efforts from a fundamental perspective.

In the first three quarters of 2023, a total of 54 officials registered with and supervised by the CPC Central Committee have been investigated on suspected corruption by discipline inspection and supervision agencies. A total of 2,480 officials at department and bureau level, and more than 20,000 officials at county and division level have been investigated, Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Hu Wenming, former chairman of China Shipbuilding Industry Company Limited, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for bribery and abuse of power on Tuesday. 

In November, the top anti-graft body announced that Zhang Hongli, former vice president of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, was placed under investigation for suspected severe violations of Party discipline and laws, an example showing that the anti-corruption efforts have been expanded to cover more key sectors.

In recent years, anti-corruption efforts in China have expanded to not only corruption related to officials but also corruption related to the national economy and everyday life, Yang Xuedong, a professor from the department of political science at Tsinghua University told the Global Times on Thursday.

"It is a long-term and arduous task, which also demonstrates the Party's determination to ongoing anti-corruption efforts," Yang said.

Experts believe that the anti-corruption efforts will be continued as key focus in 2024. 

Since the 18th National Congress, under the new situation of comprehensively strengthening Party discipline and rules, there have been some new trends in corruption. These new trends and characteristics have sounded the alarm for the anti-corruption efforts in 2024, Zhang said.