Corruption investigation based on "ironclad" evidence: Official

The investigation, and subsequent punishment, of corrupt officials was always based on "objective facts and ironclad evidence," a senior discipline official said.

Speaking at a press conference Friday the vice chief of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Wu Yuliang, said that the cornerstones of the CCDI's work was the Party's code of conduct and hard evidence.

He also distanced the anti-corruption campaign from power struggle accusations, citing a well-known Chinese allegory to criticize prejudiced observations of China, saying opinions like this may lead to distorted conclusions.

The official said a public opinion poll conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2015 revealed that 91.5 percent of respondents were satisfied with the anti-graft drive, and over 90 percent had confidence in the campaign.

According to Wu, 336,000 officials were punished last year for violating the Party's code of conduct or other regulations, the highest since the reform and opening-up drive began.

He added, however, that wayward officials only account for a very small percentage of the 87-million member party.

He said corruption ran counter to the Party's principle of serving the people and the anti-graft drive underscored the Party's zero-tolerance of corruption.

Senior CCDI officials Luo Dongchuan and Chen Xiaojiang also noted that the CPC Central Committee remained determined to combat corruption and would not take the foot off the gas in this regard.

Also, 2,479 discipline officials were punished for violations last year as inspection agencies are improving self-supervision, Wu said. Endi