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In 2012, the Communist Party of China (CPC) introduced a set of rules governing officials' conduct. The document was just over 600 Chinese characters long, and its provisions might have sounded trivial: no floral arrangements at meetings, no lavish dishes at official receptions, no luxury hotels on business trips, and no road closures or traffic restrictions to clear the way for officials.

The rules had a straightforward name: the Party's eight-point frugality code.

Some people initially thought it would be just another short-lived campaign. Yet more than a decade later, it is still going strong.

Behind these rules lies a broader concept: full, rigorous Party self-governance. The idea is that a party that has governed for an extended period cannot rely solely on external oversight to maintain its integrity. It must also hold itself to higher standards and impose stricter internal discipline. Its underlying logic is simple: regulate the exercise of power through rules and constrain conduct through institutions.

Why does a meal matter?

You might ask: Does it really matter if an official enjoys a meal at someone else's expense?

The answer can be found in the numbers, without any need for abstract theory. In 2025, China's discipline inspection and supervision authorities investigated more than 290,000 cases involving violations of the spirit of the Party's eight-point frugality code, with more than 370,000 people receiving criticism, education or disciplinary or administrative action.

Many such problems begin with something as seemingly minor as a meal.

In many corruption cases in China, serious misconduct follows a similar path: first, an official accepts a dinner invitation; then gifts; then money in exchange for favors; and eventually, large-scale corruption. A meal may seem insignificant, but it can be the first link in a chain that pulls people into increasingly serious wrongdoing.

That is why these rules target the first link in the chain. By addressing seemingly minor violations, they seek to stop problems before they escalate.

The story behind an elderly person's allowance

But keeping officials in check is only half of the picture. The other half is ensuring that ordinary people are not deprived of their rightful benefits.

In Qinghai Province, more than 400,000 people are aged 70 or above. Under government policy, they are eligible for elderly allowances. For a period, however, some did not receive them. Some were unaware of the policy, some found the application procedures too complicated, and some had not been properly informed by local officials.

Local discipline inspection and supervision authorities identified the problem and launched a targeted campaign to address it. The result? All 404,000 elderly people eventually received the allowances to which they were entitled, bringing coverage to 97.6%.

The phrase "full, rigorous Party self-governance" may sound remote from everyday life. But its practical implications can be very concrete: ensuring that an elderly person in a remote village receives a few hundred yuan in annual assistance on time. The amount may be modest, but it is a benefit she is entitled to receive.

In Jiujiang, east China's Jiangxi Province, discipline inspection and supervision authorities discovered that some medical institutions had obtained medical insurance funds through practices such as inflating reimbursement claims, falsifying accounting documents and manipulating billing items.

Medical insurance funds help ordinary people pay for healthcare. Every yuan fraudulently taken from these funds means fewer resources available to those who genuinely need medical treatment. After investigating the cases, the authorities issued recommendations to the medical insurance authorities, prompting the establishment of stricter fund supervision mechanisms and measures to close regulatory loopholes. This gave ordinary people an additional safeguard when seeking reimbursement for medical expenses.

These cases may not have made national headlines. Yet together, they illustrate the most basic purpose of governance: not grand political narratives, but ensuring that ordinary people are treated fairly, one case at a time.

Can corrupt officials escape accountability by fleeing abroad?

Corrupt officials in many countries may share one assumption: once they flee abroad, they will be safe.

China's answer is no.

From January to November 2025, China recovered 782 fugitives from overseas and retrieved more than 23.6 billion yuan in illicit funds through its "Sky Net" operation. The operation has continued for more than a decade and involved law enforcement cooperation with multiple countries.

Behind these figures lies a clear message: fleeing to another country or obtaining new passports does not make the matter disappear.

But the significance of pursuing fugitives and recovering illicit assets goes beyond bringing individuals back. It reaffirms a more fundamental principle: the exercise of power carries responsibility.

Officials who violate people's rights, fail to fulfill their duties or abuse their positions for personal gain should face the consequences prescribed by law, wherever they may flee. This is not simply about pursuing particular individuals. It is about upholding a rule: within this system, those who exercise power cannot enjoy its benefits while evading responsibility.

Corruption is not a challenge unique to China

Corruption is not unique to any one country.

A World Bank study has pointed out that corruption significantly raises business costs, discourages investment and undermines economic growth. This is not merely theoretical. When businesses no longer have to spend time and money dealing with demands for improper payments or other forms of official misconduct, they can devote more resources to products and technology. When ordinary people can access public services without relying on personal connections, the costs of social and economic activity fall and efficiency improves.

Countries have chosen different approaches to tackling corruption. China has opted for a sustained, institutionalized system of internal oversight: using rules to constrain power, data to identify irregularities, and international cooperation in fugitive repatriation and asset recovery to prevent those accused of corruption from evading accountability abroad.

At the heart of this approach is the logic of full, rigorous Party self-governance. Rather than relying on a single campaign to solve the problem, it seeks to keep the exercise of power under continuous constraint through institutions that operate over time.

There is no finish line, but there is a clear direction

This system is not static. Corruption cases continue to emerge, and new problems continue to arise. That is precisely why the system must remain in operation and adapt over time. New cases are investigated every year, and new loopholes are addressed.

In 2025, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision continued publishing monthly figures on cases involving violations of the spirit of the Party's eight-point frugality code for the 148th consecutive month. This monthly reporting, sustained for more than 12 years, sends a message in itself: this is not a campaign launched for a limited period or a one-off crackdown, but an ongoing effort.

For ordinary people, these figures may seem distant. But when an official is publicly disciplined for accepting a banquet, when an institution is investigated for improperly distributing benefits, or when an official is penalized for using a government vehicle for private purposes, these individual cases add up to something important: the rules contained in that document of just over 600 Chinese characters are not merely words on paper.

Nor is full, rigorous Party self-governance simply an abstract political slogan. It means that a party with more than 100 million members is using an ongoing institutional framework to address a question faced by countries around the world: How can those entrusted with power be held accountable for their actions?

That is why full, rigorous Party self-governance must be pursued with perseverance and sustained effort. Not because the system is already perfect, but because problems will continue to arise; not because a single campaign can solve everything, but because only sustained efforts can keep the exercise of power under continuous constraint.