CCDI inspections reveal weakening of Party leadership

China’s top disciplinary body has discovered the weakening of Party leadership and promotion of corrupt officials during inspections of four provincial-level regions, according to a statement released Monday.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) kicked off a new round of inspections last November, which covered Beijing and Chongqing municipalities, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Gansu Province. All the four regions had been inspected previously.

This round of inspections found weak CPC leadership, inappropriate promotions, violations of frugality rules and alarming space for corruption at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and other sectors, among other problems, according to the findings released by the CCDI.

In Beijing, inspectors found that issues identified in the previous inspection — related to Lyu Xiwen, the former Beijing deputy Party chief who has been charged with corruption — had not been dealt with in a timely manner.

Some problems uncovered during the previous inspection, including lowly officials involved in huge corruption, improper selection and appointment of officials, and violations of the eight-point frugality rules, were found to have recurred, according to the CCDI.

In Chongqing, the pernicious influence of Bo Xilai, former Party chief of Chongqing, and Wang Lijun, former police chief and vice mayor, “have not been wiped out completely,” and corruption at SOEs “remains severe,” the statement said.

Inspectors also found in Guangxi that some sectors, including land, transportation, forestry and SOEs, were more prone to be corrupt, and in Gansu, risks of corruption were high in sectors like transportation, civil aviation, land and culture.