"We must have the resolve to fight every corrupt phenomenon, punish every corrupt official and constantly eliminate the soil which breeds corruption, so as to earn people's trust with actual results."

                                                                                                      ---Xi Jinping, January 22, 2013

After celebrating its 92nd anniversary this month, the Communist Party of China (CPC), the world's largest ruling party, is looking to ensure stricter Party discipline in the fight against corruption.

China's former railways minister Liu Zhijun stands trial on July 8, 2013. He was given a suspended death penalty for bribery and abuse of power.

China's former railways minister Liu Zhijun was given a suspended death penalty on July 8, 2013 for bribery and abuse of power, making him the highest-ranking official to be punished for corrupt behavior since the CPC's leadership transition in November last year.

On the eve of the Party's anniversary, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, told a meeting of the work of Party personnel resources that intra-Party management and rules must remain stringent for the 85 million-member political organization which has ruled a country of 1.3 billion people for so long.

Since the reshuffle of its top leadership, the CPC has taken a zero tolerance approach to corruption.

Liu's sentence followed the recent sacking and investigation of several senior officials for suspected violations of law and discipline.

Those under investigation include Liu Tienan, former deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, and Li Chuncheng, former vice secretary of the CPC Committee of Sichuan Province.

The treatment of these officials is indicative of the CPC's resolve to target so-called "tigers" (high-level officials and big corruption cases) and "flies" (lower-level bureaucrats and smaller cases) in the fight against corruption.

"The Party should swat "tigers" and "flies" at the same time by dealing with officials' illegal activities on one hand and on the other tackling more trivial malpractice, which nevertheless closely impacts upon the people."

                                                                                                       --- Xi Jinping, January 23, 2013

Progress in fight against corruption

The CPC's anti-corruption measures have already been recognized by both the Chinese citizens and international community.

According to Transparency International, a non-governmental organization which monitors and publicizes corporate and political corruption in international development, China is making progress in the fight against corruption. This is evidenced by the rise over the past two decades of its score on the Corruption Perceptions Index.

Note: In 2012, Transparency International updated the methodology for the Corruption Perceptions Index, from 0 - 10 to 0 (highly corrupt) – 100 (very clean).

A survey by the National Bureau of Statistics of China shows that from 2003 to 2010, Chinese citizens' rate of satisfaction with the work of combating corruption and building a clean government rose steadily from 51.9 percent to 70.6 percent. In addition, the percentage of citizens who thought that corruption had been kept down to varying extents increased from 68.1% to 83.8%. (White paper: China's efforts to combat corruption and build a clean government)