China’s top anti-corruption body gathers to map out strategy in Beijing

President Xi Jinping and other leaders will join more than 130 graft-busters at annual conference of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
Several senior cadres have been sentenced in corruption cases recently, including Lai Xiaomin who was handed the death penalty for taking bribes

Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign

William Zheng

Published: 9:00am, 22 Jan 2021

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More than 130 of China’s top graft-busters and their provincial counterparts will gather in Beijing on Friday for a three-day meeting to map out their strategy for the year.

The annual conference of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection – the Communist Party’s top anti-corruption body – will be held at the Jingxi Hotel in the city’s northwest and will be attended by President Xi Jinping and other leaders, sources with knowledge of the meeting said.

It comes after several senior cadres were sentenced in corruption cases recently, including Lai Xiaomin, the former head of one of the nation’s biggest asset managers, China Huarong Asset Management. Lai was handed the death penalty in early January for taking 1.79 billion yuan (US$277 million) in bribes, and the Tianjin Higher People’s Court on Thursday rejected his appeal, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Other senior cadres awaiting trial on corruption charges include Hu Wenming, former chairman of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, and Wen Guodong, former vice-governor of Qinghai province, the report said.

Lai Xiaomin, the former chairman of China Huarong Asset Management, was sentenced to death for taking 1.79 billion yuan in bribes. Photo: Weibo

The Chinese leadership has said this year will mark the start of a new era in China’s modernisation, and that Beijing wants to put the focus on balanced and quality growth, technology and innovation.

It has also put an emphasis on the law and supervision in rooting out corruption but stressed that this must be done under the leadership of the party.

Observers expect these messages to be repeated by the head of the anti-corruption body, Zhao Leji, when he delivers his work report on Friday.

The commission has not released details of the meeting, but in articles published this week it has indicated that its top priorities are strengthening party loyalty and political supervision, and stamping out corruption in the financial sector and law enforcement, including collusion with criminals.

Zhao Leji, secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, will deliver his work report on Friday. Photo: AFP

Xie Maosong, a political scientist at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, said institutionalising Beijing’s anti-corruption efforts was a key issue for the graft-busters.

“In preparatory meetings, deepening reform of the discipline inspection and supervision systems, and strengthening self-monitoring and discipline were listed as the two important tasks [for the year],” Xie said. “This basically means [the commission] will have to come up with a convincing answer to the question of who will supervise the supervisors.”

Xie said tackling corruption-related financial risks was likely to be another key topic at the meeting.

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According to Liu Changsong, director of the Beijing Mugong Law Firm, the death sentence handed to Lai two weeks ago was a warning that the Chinese leadership would not tolerate corruption, especially if it involved financial executives. “[The financial sector] is the economic lifeline in maintaining China’s social stability,” Liu said. “That’s why it’s so important.”

Qin Qianhong, a law professor at Wuhan University, said corruption was also a major problem in the legal and security system since police, prosecutors and judges were all “on the front line” of China’s efforts to ensure social stability.