China starts extending supervisory system reform to nationwide

New supervision commissions will be subject to the centralized and unified leadership of the Party and supervise all exercising public power, said Zhao Leji, China’s anti-graft chief, on Saturday.

Zhao, head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks at a meeting in Taiyuan, capital of north China’s Shanxi Province, preparing for extending a pilot reform of the supervision system to nationwide.

Party committees and discipline agencies of all levels should be fully aware of the significance of this reform, as an effective measure to exercise strict governance of the Party and obtain a crushing victory against corruption, Zhao said.

They were urged to fully implement the instructions from the central leadership.

The pilot reform has been tried in Beijing, and Shanxi and Zhejiang provinces since January.

New supervision commissions will incorporate existing supervisory, corruption prevention and control agencies within the governments and procuratorates, according to a decision adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Nov. 4.

Local Party organizations should make sure a smooth transition and new commissions should effectively exercise their duties, cooperate with law enforcement agencies and discipline their own staff, Zhao said.

Supervised by a central leading group, local Party chiefs should take charge of the reform and discipline agencies should well implement them, he added.