Chinanews, Beijing, Feb 26 – A recent public opinion poll shows that Chinese public are most concerned with anti-corruption¹ issue at the upcoming NPC and CPPCC sessions.

Chinese central government has always attached great importance to the fight against corruption. In the Sixth Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC proposed the blueprint³ for building a harmonious⁴ society, placing Party style improvement as an important part of realizing the goal.

On February 13, Gan Yisheng, deputy secretary and secretary-general of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection⁵, said firmly that anyone, no matter how high the position he is in, must be severely⁶ punished once he violates state laws or Party discipline.

His announcement conveys a message to society at large about CPC’s firm stance on the fight against corruption.

Earlier, the CPC had punished a group of senior Party officials for their corrupt² practices, which demonstrates its sincerity⁷ in its stance on this issue.

Last year, the Party's discipline inspection organs at various levels punished 97,260 Party members, accounting⁸ for 0.14% of the total number of Party members in China.

However, it should be realized that corruption cannot be eradicated⁹ overnight. The key to the issue is to set up a system which can punish corrupt officials as well as prevent corruption. Some experts suggest to set up special organs to deal with corruption issues, saying that these organs can make concerted efforts to draft detailed¹⁰ laws and regulations to curb¹¹ corruption. They can also help ensure that the government’s efforts in combating corruption can be long-lasting. With these efforts, economic losses and negative social impacts caused by corruptive¹² deals can be effectively reduced and China can clear obstacles and move ahead in building a harmonious society.

It is expected that in 2007, tasks including improving the government's own building and reform, speeding up administrative¹³ management reform, further transforming the government's functions, setting up and perfecting an administrative accountability responsible system, improving government’s executive power and credit, building a clean government and fighting against corruption, and improving the work of educating, managing and supervising public servants, will remain as the key tasks for the government this year.