President Xi calls for uprooting corruption ahead of CCP plenum — SCMP
Chinese President Xi Jinping said there was a need for an uninterrupted fight against corruption and called, where necessary, to “uproot or cut down diseased trees.” An edited transcript of his speech delivered in January at the fifth plenary session of the CCP Central Commission for Discipline Inspection was published by the party journal Qiushi, the South China Morning Post reports.
Xi described corruption as the “greatest risk, threat and challenge” to the Chinese Communist Party and said it remained widespread and prone to recurrence. According to him, the anti-corruption campaign is in a difficult situation, and there can be no retreat in this fight.
Plenum in Beijing
The publication of the transcript came less than two weeks before the fifth plenary session of the 20th CCP Central Committee, which is due to take place in Beijing on October 26–29. Senior party officials are expected to discuss and approve a document on deepening intra-party self-governance.
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Expected topics at the plenum include countering systemic corruption, strengthening political oversight within the party, and eliminating institutional gaps in bureaucratic and state structures. The meeting will also take place amid preparations for personnel changes that are to be finalized at the party congress next autumn.
Checks on officials and oversight rules
The anti-corruption campaign has already affected 34 of the 205 full members of the Central Committee: they are either under investigation or have lost their seats in the National People’s Congress. On Tuesday, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced a corruption investigation into former Chongqing mayor Huang Qifan, eight years after his retirement.
Xi also called for stepping up investigations into corruption involving key leaders, young cadres and others. He noted that some intra-party rules are too general and that gaps remain in the regulatory system. Separately, the Chinese leader supported the use of big data and other technologies for oversight, while stressing the need to strengthen ethical regulation and data protection.
