2nd Ld-Writethru-China Focus: No sand in eyes: China's top graft-buster vows strengthened discipline

China's top graft-buster Wang Qishan has vowed to further tighten the screw of regulations in the fight against corruption in 2016.

Wang's remarks, part of his speech at the sixth plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) on Jan. 12, was made public on Sunday.

As the new rules on clean governance and the disciplinary regulation have taken effect, party organizations must defend and implement them in a manner like "the eyes tolerate no sand", said Wang, head of CCDI.

He said an intra-party supervision regulation, which was formulated in 2003, should be revised to summarize the experience of the CPC governing itself since the 18th National Congress of the CPC.

The relevant administrative supervision law, which monitors government officials, will also be revised, he added.

Further underlining the significance of CPC's responsibility, Wang said an intra-party accountability regulation will be formulated to hold accountable those who have poorly implemented party policies, who have neglected their duty in managing the party, who have selected and promoted the wrong officials and who have failed to detect problems in the party.

Chinese leaders often highlight the role of regulations in the sweeping anti-corruption drive. President Xi Jinping has vowed to "fasten the cage of regulations" to curb corruption.

The new disciplinary regulation, which even lists playing golf as an violation, is deemed to be the strictest in party history.

INSPECTION AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Wang vowed to continue high pressure on corruption, with its intensity and pace unchanged in 2016.

Inspection work will be deepened, with the aim of covering all central Party and government organs, said Wang, adding inspection tours should be carried out in more innovative ways.

The eight-point anti-extravagance rules should be continuously upheld as extravagant activities have gone underground and become more difficult to uncover, said Wang.

Citing a zero-tolerance approach, Wang said those who try to avoid investigation, who frequent private clubs and organize covert parties must be punished heavily.

Three kinds of people, he said, should be the priority targets of anti-graft efforts to prevent corrupt officials from being promoted, which includes those who have not restrained themselves after the 18th National Congress of the CPC, those who have serious problems and caused strong opposition among the public and leading officials who may be promoted to important positions.

Wang also called for greater efforts to pursue corrupt fugitive and recover stolen assets as part of upgraded international cooperation against corruption.

Underlining an anti-corruption sideline meeting of the Group of 20 summit, Wang said China must strengthen its law enforcement cooperation in fighting corruption with the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia.

He also urged efforts to get rid of malpractices and corruption at grass-roots levels, where public have more direct feelings about corruption.

In line with a communique released after the sixth plenary session, Wang vowed to build a "loyal, clean and responsible team of discipline and inspection staff" who are loyal to the Party and trusted by the people.

ANTI-CORRUPTION ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2015

Wang also elaborated on anti-corruption achievements in 2015, saying more than 54,000 officials were investigated by prosecutors for bribery, dereliction of duty and other duty-related crimes in the past year.

In addition, more than 20,000 cases were concluded by courts nationwide, including 16,000 cases involving bribery and embezzlement, and 4,300 cases of dereliction of duty, said Wang.

Tallying up anti-corruption efforts in the past year, Wang said disciplinary authorities received more than 2.8 million tip-offs, and punished about 336,000 discipline violators in 2015.

Investigations into 90 centrally-administered officials for discipline violations were launched or finished in 2015, said the report, adding 42 of them have been transferred to judicial organs for criminal investigation.

Graft busters also probed 49,000 officials for suspected violation of the eight point anti-extravagance rules, 3,400 of them were punished according to the disciplinary rules.

The discipline inspection agencies have been firm in dealing with its own corrupt elements. A total of 2,479 discipline inspectors nationwide were punished in 2015, according to Wang.

An initiative called "Sky Net" unveiled by Chinese government saw 1,023 fugitives being returned from overseas in 2015, recovering 3 billion yuan (461.5 million U.S. dollars) in criminal proceeds. Endi