Discipline chief stresses CPC leadership

The top anti-graft official has highlighted the importance of the Communist Party of China's leadership in the new five-year plan and called on Party members to refrain from breaking the rules.

Wang Qishan, head of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said on Sunday that the Party's leadership is the key to achieving the goals of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) and creating a moderately prosperous society by 2020.

Speaking after a panel discussion at the ongoing NPC session, he said the Chinese people have pursued revitalization, and the Party has led the Chinese people to strive for an independent and prosperous nation for more than 90 years. Wang said officials have to guide specific work with the essence of the Government Work Report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday. He urged officials to abide by Party rules and work for the benefit of the people with courage and a sense of responsibility.

Nearly 300,000 officials were investigated for suspected disciplinary violations last year, according to the watchdog. Roughly 200,000 were punished and reassigned to other posts, while 82,000 were given severe punishments and were demoted.

Ten centrally appointed and administered officials were handed severe penalties and demoted for serious violations of the Party's code of conduct. Liu Lizu, for example, was dismissed as vice-chairman of the Jiangxi provincial committee of the CPPCC and demoted to a junior-level public servant.

The watchdog has been highlighting the importance of the Party code of conduct in order to spot problems earlier and prevent officials from slipping into corruption.

Wang said in September that officials subject to minor disciplinary penalties should be the majority of those punished, those who receive severe punishments or demotions should just be a small proportion, and those prosecuted for breaking the law should be even fewer.

Xinhua contributed to this story.