Photo:CCTV

In the first weekend of 2024, the China Central Television (CCTV) started to air a large-scale annual anti-corruption documentary - "Continued Efforts, Deepening Progress" - during prime time. The documentary consists of four episodes and features 12 typical corruption cases, with implicated officials confessing their crimes on camera, including those related to the high-profile anti-corruption efforts covering Chinese soccer.

The documentary premiered at 8:00 pm on CCTV-1 on Saturday night, showcasing demonstrative cases investigated by the disciplinary inspection and supervision authorities. Among them were Li Tie, former head coach of the Chinese men's national soccer team, Chen Xuyuan, former chairman of the Chinese Football Association and Du Zhaocai, former deputy director of the General Administration of Sport. All three individuals publicly repented in front of the camera.

With media reports indicating that the anti-corruption drive in soccer has been ongoing for over a year, analysts pointed out that it has set records in terms of duration, scope and the number of arrests, making it the most extensive anti-corruption action in the history of Chinese soccer. Du, in particular, holds the highest-ranking position among all officials arrested in previous soccer-related anti-corruption operations.

In an earlier released clip of the documentary, Du admitted to being swayed by the interests of club owners while seeking personal benefit.

Chen, visibly thinner, lowered his head and apologized sincerely to soccer fans nationwide.

Li, being the first individual investigated in this round of anti-corruption efforts, expressed deep regret and said that he should have been steadfast and followed the right path.

All three officials have undergone investigations and have been transferred to detention center. Their cases will now proceed to a highly anticipated public trial phase. Considering their inclusion in an official documentary, many netizens began to speculate that they would not receive lenient treatment.

According to senior soccer journalist Ran Xiongfei, the amount involved in the cases of former Chinese Football Association officials, including Chen and Du, is substantial, climbing into the tens of millions of yuan, far exceeding the scale of previous anti-corruption efforts in China. Ran stated that they are likely to face severe punishment.

In a recent anti-corruption trial in the Chinese sports industry, Liu Aijie, the former director of the Olympic Games Preparation Office of the General Administration of Sport, was sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined 2 million yuan for bribery, according to media reports.

This year's CCTV documentary also included a host of high-profile and disgraced former officials including Zhang Fusheng, former deputy head of the formerly-named fire and rescue department under the Ministry of Emergency Management, Zhang Xiaopei, a former senior political advisor of Northeast China's Jilin Province, Li Zaiyong, a former senior political advisor of Southwest China's Guizhou Province, Chen Jiadong, a former senior legislator in the city of Xiamen in East China's Fujian Province, and Fan Yifei, a former vice governor of the People's Bank of China. Many of these former officials have been involved in bribery cases with amounts exceeding 100 million yuan.

Among them, one of Zhang Fusheng's main methods of bribery was playing mahjong. His love of the game provided excellent opportunities for some businessmen and bosses to "make friends" with him and provide him with under the table payoffs and other benefits. The owner of a fire engineering company said that every time he played mahjong with Zhang, he would deliberately arrange the game so that Zhang would only win and never lose. He would win tens of thousands of yuan from Zhang every day, according to the first episode of the documentary aired on Saturday. Over the past decade, Zhang received a total of 9 million yuan from this business owner.

In addition, individuals related to the collapse of a poorly built dwelling in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province where 53 were killed, also featured in the documentary.

At the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in October 2022, the importance of comprehensively governing the Party with strict discipline and combating corruption was once again emphasized. In the following year and more, the Party has consistently and forcefully carried out anti-corruption actions, resulting in the downfall of dozens of senior officials.

This documentary emphasizes that the Party must always maintain a clear and firm resolve to solve the unique challenges faced by a large party. It continuously promotes comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, constantly improving the system for such governance, and carry out the great self-revolution of the Party to the end. It leads social revolution through the Party's internal reform, and promotes the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Global Times