Photo：Li Hao/GT

A Monday press briefing on the sidelines of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) provided statistics that underlined how corruption has been effectively curbed and showed the Party's determination to continue its full, rigorous self-governance in the future.  

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, 4.65 million cases were filed at disciplinary inspection commissions across the country, with 553 centrally administrated officials being investigated, Xiao Pei, deputy head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC Central Committee and vice-chairman of the National Supervisory Commission of the PRC, said at the Monday press briefing. 

In the past decade, over 25,000 department- and bureau-level officials were punished, showing that the fight against corruption has achieved an overwhelming victory and the gains have been fully consolidated, Xiao said. 

Over 74,000 people were investigated and punished for corruption-related cases since the 19th CPC National Congress, 48 percent of whom committed their first violation before the 18th CPC National Congress and 11.1 percent after the 19th CPC National Congress, signaling new violations were effectively curbed, Xiao said.

Xiao added that since the 19th CPC National Congress, more than 80,000 people confessed their misconducts to disciplinary organs, while the number of reports and complaints declined, with a drop of 29.9 percent in 2021 compared with 2018. 

The Party has also invested great efforts in handling "flies" at the grass-roots level. Some 650,000 corruption and work style cases in education, health care, social insurance and jurisdiction were handled since the 18th CPC National Congress, according to the press conference. 

Thanks to these efforts, 97.4 percent of the public surveyed in 2022 believe that the full and rigorous self-governance of the Party is "highly effective," up 22.4 percentage points from the figure in 2012. 

Xi Jinping noted in his report on Sunday to the 20th CPC National Congress that the Party has found a second answer to the question of how to escape the historical cycle of rises and falls. The answer is self-reform, ensuring that the Party will never change its nature, its conviction, or its character. 

Tian Peiyan, deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, remarked at the Monday briefing that self-reform is a unique trait and advantage of the CPC. To ensure the trait can be kept well and further develop, a system of rules and regulations is required.

Tian noted that among nearly 4,000 active Party rules and regulations, more than 70 percent were enacted or have been revised in the past decade. 

One policy that was expounded on was the business activities of officials' families. 

According to the Monday press briefing, checks on CPC leaders and officials' personal affairs have become more common and all centrally administered officials underwent such scrutiny before the 20th CPC National Congress. 

Since 2015, more than 4,700 officials' spouses' and children's business activities have been regulated. 

Zhang Xixian, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing, told the Global Times that work style building and self-reform will be long-term tasks and are crucial for the Party to lead the journey toward the second centenary goal. 

Great efforts led to impressive achievements in the past decade, and from now on, the Party is expected to keep its high standards in self-governance and all officials should not only stay away from misdeeds that involve violating laws and disciplines, but also bear their missions in mind and fulfill their responsibilities, the expert said.