China's proposed measures to defeat corruption

The Anti-Corruption Summit 2016 is the first of its kind to bring together world leaders, the banking and financial sectors, and non-government organizations to jointly discuss and implement combined plans to tackle corruption.

The Anti-Corruption Summit 2016 is the first of its kind to bring together world leaders, the banking and financial sectors, and non-government organizations to jointly discuss and implement combined plans to tackle corruption.[Photo/China.org.cn]

According to the World Economic Forum and the World Bank, corruption costs the world trillions of dollars each year.

Speaking at the summit, Huang Shuxian, deputy secretary of China's Central Commission for the Discipline Inspection, told the summit how China has been actively tackling corruption at home and internationally. Huang also put forward proposals to combat international corruption.

The fight at home

Under President Xi Jinping who came to power in 2012, China has launched a four-pronged strategy for the betterment of Chinese society. One aim of this strategy is to promote party integrity, clean governance and curb corruption.

The Chinese government is fighting to curb the spending of public funds on lavish dinners and gift giving, and officials taking gifts and special treatment in the way of bribes. Huang said that between 2013 and 2015, 65,000 officials have been disciplined for misconduct.

The government has also worked at strengthening the supervision of officials through cross-party inspections. Huang said that central authorities have sent teams to local authorities, government agencies, and state-owned companies to make sure that policies of the central government are "faithfully implemented" and to see whether there are violations of political discipline and rules.

These teams have visited nearly 200 Party organisations in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. "These measures have been an effective deterrent against corruption," Huang told the summit.

Huang said that China has a commitment to law-based governance, and that it will continue to fight corruption as it already has done.