China to extend pilot corruption supervision program nationwide

China will extend its current corruption supervision pilot program to cover the entire nation in the next few months, in a bid to further "integrate resources" in the fight against corruption.

By the end of this year or early 2018, supervisory commissions will be set up by the People's Congress at provincial, city and county-levels across the country, to ensure that "all public servants exercising public power" are subject to supervision, according to a plan circulated by the General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

The three levels of commissions are part of the CPC's plan to establish a national supervisory system that oversees all state organs and civil servants in order to curb corruption and underhand behavior.

In January, pilot programs were launched in Beijing, and Shanxi and Zhejiang provinces.

According to the new plan, the decision to launch the pilot supervisory reform across the country on the basis of experiences in these three areas is a major strategic move to implement the spirit of the just concluded 19th CPC National Congress and promote strict Party governance.

The move is key to improving the country's national supervisory system with Chinese characteristics, and reinforcing self-supervision of the Party and the country, the plan said.

Beijing, Shanxi and Zhejiang shall continue to deepen their pilot reform, while the remaining 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions will set up the three levels of commissions, it said.

They should work to integrate anti-corruption resources, clarify the commissions' responsibilities, define their jurisdiction and means to investigate crimes and punish corrupt officials, and set up a coordination mechanism with law enforcement and judicial authorities, the plan said, adding that centralized and unified leadership of the Party over the pilot program should be strengthened.