According to Chinese official media reports, the October 23 meeting was chaired by Xi Jinping and reviewed the "Comprehensive Report on the Seventh Round of Inspections of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China." The meeting mentioned that "judging from the inspection, the work of central and state agencies has made positive progress, but there are still some problems that must be taken seriously and resolved seriously," and stressed that "we must strictly implement the political responsibilities of party management, use higher standards and more practical measures to comprehensively and strictly govern the party, maintain a high-pressure situation in punishing corruption, and maintain the tone of strictness to the end, so as to build political institutions with clean conduct and integrity."
Just the day before the meeting, Xia Linmao, member of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and deputy mayor of Beijing, was suspected of serious violations of disciplines and laws. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission launched a disciplinary review and supervisory investigation. He ranks first among the eight deputy mayors of Beijing and is responsible for the daily operations of the city government. He is also an alternate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
One of the main topics of the Fifth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which is about to open on October 26, is "strict governance over the party." Analysts pointed out that this means that a series of measures will be taken to improve the work efficiency of the cadre team, combat corruption and enhance the loyalty of cadres at all levels.
Since Xi Jinping took office as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee at the end of 2012, he has launched continuous anti-corruption campaigns and has investigated and punished thousands of officials, including dozens of Central Committee members. However, Xi Jinping remains dissatisfied with the failure of some cadres to effectively implement his instructions. Daria Impiombato, a political scientist at Germany's Mercator Center for China Studies, pointed out, "In Xi Jinping's view, anti-corruption is the key to the legitimacy of the ruling party. Therefore, he is committed to constantly purifying the party's ranks to ensure that the rule of the Chinese Communist Party can withstand the test. This is something other regimes have failed to do."
A few days ago, Chinese state media also published an article reporting on a speech delivered by Xi Jinping in January this year, in which he criticized the so-called "two-faced officials" who claim to obey the central government's instructions, but in fact "submit it" and pursue "individualism", calling them "political opportunists." Xi Jinping also criticized "good old" officials who, under the guise of maintaining unity, take no action when problems are discovered.
Jean Christopher Mittelstaedt, a China expert at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, also told AFP that Xi Jinping is trying to solve the problem of how central government orders are issued to local officials, which has long troubled Chinese politics. "When the priorities set by the central government are increasing, and local officials have information, face tight budgets, and are rewarded for mere 'appearance of compliance,' how can the central government ensure that these officials implement policies as expected? Xi Jinping's solution is to strengthen supervision and increase rules. But this is exactly what caused the problem."
