China to beef up anti-graft campaign

BEIJING -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) on Wednesday vowed to firmly fight corruption and maintain its "high-handed posture" in the next five years.

"If the problems of work styles and corruption are not handled properly, they will critically harm the Party, and even lead the Party or nation to perish," said a five-year (2013-2017) plan on building a system to punish and prevent corruption, issued by the CPC Central Committee.

All cases must be investigated and miscreants punished more severely to deter others, the plan said.

The CPC reiterated its pursuit of "tigers" and "flies" and the fight against harmful work styles, the hotbeds for corruption. The Party's work style campaign is fundamental to the fight against corruption, according to the document.

"Corruption is still common. The soil that nourishes corruption still exists. The situation remains critical and complicated," the plan said.

Within five years, "public satisfaction should be achieved," according to the plan.

For the CPC, building an anticorruption system is a "major political task, while for society it is a common responsibility.