Corrupt up-and-comers can't hide

Hunting down Party officials who hold key positions and have a possibility of promotion but continue to involve themselves in corrupt activities remains the top priority of China's anti-corruption campaign now and in the future, a senior official of China's top anti-graft body said on Thursday.

The emphasis will be especially on Party officials who are involved in political and economic corruption at the same time, said Yang Xiaodu, deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

"An overwhelming momentum in fighting corruption has been created during the past five years. We now need to seize a crushing victory," Yang said at a news conference on the sidelines of the 19th CPC National Congress.

The CPC Central Committee has placed unprecedented importance on improving Party conduct and combating corruption.

In addition, many unhealthy trends have been reversed. That is an accomplishment that previously was regarded by many as an impossible mission, he said.

During the past five years, 440 officials under the direct management of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, most of whom were at or above ministerial level, have been investigated. It is a rather high proportion, Yang said.

Among them were 43 alternate members of the 18th Central Committee and nine members of the CCDI. The Party's determination to fight corruption is "as solid as rock", he added.

"We have to admit that the management of the Party had indeed been lax, weak and slack for a period of time, which has given officials opportunities to be two-faced and corrupt," Yang said.

The Party has recognized the problems and stepped up efforts to make up for mistakes. "It will be a lot more difficult than before for officials to find loopholes in the system to carry out corrupt activities," he said.

Meanwhile, Party officials now have to pass a stricter screening process to be promoted and become delegates to the national Party congress, Qi Yu, vice-minster of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, said at the same news conference.

"During the recent election of new city, county and township leaders, more than 9,300 officials were not promoted after failing reviews," Qi said.

The qualifications of delegates to the 19th CPC National Congress have all been strictly reviewed. Seven people were removed from the already published list of delegates because problems were found during the final reviews, he added.

The Organization Department has also attached importance in enhancing Party organizations in State-owned, non-State owned and foreign-invested enterprises.

By the end of 2016, 70 percent of the 106,000 foreign-invested enterprises had established Party organizations.