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China’s ruling Communist Party says it has probed almost 5 million members for possible corruption over the last decade, with formal criminal cases brought against 553.
Whether that will curb an widening economic slowdown and restore faith in the authoritarian system remains unclear.
The party has 96 million members and has long run its own internal system of keeping cadres in line through a mix of offering privileges and threatening severe punishment for taking bribes, selling offices or otherwise abusing their authority.
At a new briefing Monday on the sidelines of the party’s national congress held every five years, deputy secretary of the party’s Committee for Discipline and Inspection Xiao Pei said 207,000 party officials in total had been handed some form of punishment in the 10 years since party leader Xi Jinping took power.
Now seeking a third term as head of the party, government and military, Xi has made fighting corruption a signature of his administration.
Xiao said figures show most of those caught up by anti-graft investigators had been long-term offenders and just 11% of those punished had committed their first offense in the past five years.
“The spread of graft has been resolutely contained, » Xiao said, adding that “directed policies and high pressure » had persuaded 80,000 party members to voluntarily admit to violating over the past five years.
One of Xi’s key policies, the anti-corruption campaign has been largely popular with the public and conveniently enabled him to sideline potential rivals.
A former justice minister and a former deputy public security minister received suspended death sentences last month after being convicted on various charges of bribe-taking and other abuses of office.
