Senior official concerned by political, economic corruption links

A senior anti-graft official has said that cases of intertwined political and economic corruption will be a focus of the Communist Party of China (CPC) anti-graft campaign.

Yang Xiaodu, deputy head of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, wrote in an article published in Wednesday's edition of the People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the CPC.

Yang pointed out that some leading officials had been"preyed" upon by economic interests.

"For some time, some leading officials of state-owned enterprises carried out interest tunneling for personal career development," the official said."Some private enterprise owners sought political power by'preying' on Party and government officials through money-for-power trades and forming interest groups."

The fight against corruption remains grave and complex, Yang said, promising zero tolerance, tight constraints, a tough stance and a long-term deterrence in the campaign.

Yang said that for some time in the past, business dealings had eroded the Party's strength, weakened Party leadership and given rise to misconduct and corruption.

The CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core has resolutely solved major problems that the people are most concerned about and that pose serious threat to the long-term ruling of the Party, cleaning up hidden political risks to both the Party and the country.

Yang said strengthening the Party's long-term governance capacity and its advanced nature and purity should be taken as the main thrust.

He also stressed that all CPC members must closely align themselves with the CPC Central Committee in terms of political stance, direction, principle, and path.