1st LD: Xi expects fundamental improvement of CPC political ecosystem

BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Thursday called for more anti-corruption efforts to "fundamentally improve the political ecosystem of the Party."

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at the second plenary session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CPC.

He said governance of the Party should focus on upholding and strengthening Party leadership and upholding the authority and the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee.

All-round efforts should see the Party's political building enhanced, its theory strengthened, its organizations consolidated, its conduct improved, and its discipline enforced, with institution building incorporated into every aspect of Party building, Xi said.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and the CPC's leadership is a must for the country to advance its great cause, Xi said, demanding deepening the full and strict governance over the Party.

Xi required measures to address both the symptoms and root causes of corruption to secure a sweeping victory in the fight against corruption.

"Measures targeting the root causes must be consolidated while those to cure the symptoms must be vigorously wielded," Xi said.

He said strict Party governance should be expanded to the grassroots level and work should be done together with the crackdown on mafia-style gang crime to uproot both the gangs and the "protective umbrellas" above them.

He also called for more international cooperation in the anti-corruption field. Enditem