How does China fight corruption? A systematic approach to preventing the abuse of power

Editor's note: CGTN has launched a new season of its Ask China campaign, inviting experts, editors, reporters and other professionals to answer questions submitted by viewers from around the world about China and the Communist Party of China. Han Lang is an editor at CGTN.

Corruption remains a challenge in China, as it does around the world. While the vast majority of Communist Party of China (CPC) members and public officials perform their duties with integrity, individual cases of corruption continue to emerge, highlighting the need for sustained efforts to prevent the abuse of power. 

China has made significant progress in its anti-corruption campaign, but the fight is far from over. Through full and rigorous Party self-governance, China is following a distinctive Chinese path of anti-corruption, addressing both individual misconduct and its underlying causes. This involves not only investigating and punishing corrupt officials, but also strengthening institutional safeguards, improving oversight and fostering a culture of integrity. 

China's anti-corruption efforts focus on taking integrated steps to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity, or desire to commit corruption. These three dimensions are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. Rather than treating punishment, institutional constraints and education as separate measures, China seeks to bring them together in a coordinated effort to address both symptoms and root causes of corruption. 

A firm stance against corruption provides essential deterrence. China maintains a tough position, with no restricted areas, no exceptions and zero tolerance. Investigations target both those who offer and those who accept bribes, covering senior officials, misconduct at the grassroots level and key sectors involving concentrated power and resources. 

Disciplinary inspections and supervision are also important tools in this effort. Through regular, targeted and special inspections, authorities identify violations, examine the performance of Party organizations and leading officials and uncover problems in the exercise of power. Inspection findings are followed by rectification requirements and subsequent reviews to ensure that identified problems are addressed. 

At the same time, stronger institutional constraints and oversight aim to eliminate opportunities for corruption. China seeks to improve oversight of leading officials and key positions, particularly in areas involving project approvals, public procurement, infrastructure investment and the allocation of public resources. 

By improving regulations, standardizing decision-making procedures and addressing institutional weaknesses exposed through investigations, authorities aim to close loopholes, reduce opportunities for the abuse of power and prevent similar violations from recurring. Effective checks and oversight are essential to ensuring that public authority is exercised within established rules and procedures. 

Equally important is strengthening officials' commitment to integrity. Anti-corruption education, Party discipline education and integrity education seek to reinforce officials' awareness of their responsibilities and ethical standards. Education on Party conduct and family values also emphasizes maintaining integrity in both public duties and private life. 

Together, these efforts reinforce one another. Punishment creates deterrence, institutional safeguards constrain the exercise of power and education strengthens the commitment to integrity. By combining strict enforcement with institutional improvement and education, China seeks to tackle the manifestations of corruption while eliminating the conditions that allow it to occur. 

As anti-corruption efforts deepen, the forms of corruption are also evolving. Going beyond traditional bribery and direct exchanges of money for favors, new forms of corruption increasingly involve concealed transactions and indirect transfers of benefits.  

Some cases involve officials receiving future benefits through pre-arranged agreements, having family members or associates hold shares on their behalf, or using business relationships to conceal improper exchanges. Another concern is the so-called revolving door between government and business, through which private interests may be exchanged for influence or benefits after officials leave public office.  

These practices make corruption harder to detect because illegal benefits may be concealed through complex financial transactions, multiple intermediaries, or seemingly legitimate business activities. Traditional investigative methods alone may not be sufficient to identify such hidden connections.  

Technology can provide new tools to address these challenges. By using big data analytics, authorities can compare information across different departments, identify unusual patterns in financial transactions and detect potential conflicts of interest between public officials and businesses. Digital tracking of funds and analysis of corporate ownership structures can also help uncover indirect transfers of benefits and hidden relationships.  

Artificial intelligence and data-driven risk assessment can further assist in identifying anomalies in areas such as public procurement, infrastructure projects and government investment. By integrating information on officials, companies, financial transactions and project approvals, supervisory authorities can identify suspicious patterns at an earlier stage and focus investigations on potential risks.  

However, technology is a tool, rather than a substitute for institutional oversight and human investigation. Its effectiveness depends on reliable data, inter-agency coordination, clear rules governing data use and effective follow-up investigations. Combining technological capabilities with stronger supervision and accountability can help authorities keep pace with increasingly sophisticated forms of corruption. 

The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, held from October 26 to 29, 2026, adopted a resolution on persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance, making systematic arrangements to further strengthen Party building and improve governance. 

The resolution sets out a series of priorities, including strengthening Party spirit, strictly practicing democratic centralism, improving the education and training, selection and appointment and management and oversight of officials, strengthening Party organizations at all levels, improving conduct and tightening discipline, taking coordinated action against corruption and strengthening Party regulations and institutions. 

In particular, the session emphasized the need to steadfastly follow a distinctive Chinese path of anti-corruption and strengthen the Party Central Committee's centralized, unified leadership over anti-corruption work. 

It called for taking systematic steps to address both symptoms and root causes of corruption and adopting a holistic approach that combines severe punishment, targeted remedy and effective prevention. This means not only pursuing corrupt officials and investigating individual cases, but also addressing institutional weaknesses, strengthening checks on the exercise of power and preventing corruption before it occurs. 

The resolution also stressed the importance of fortifying the cultural and ethical foundations for championing integrity and disdaining corruption, while enhancing coordinated efforts to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity, or desire to commit corruption. 

These priorities reflect a comprehensive effort to strengthen Party self-governance and improve the mechanisms for preventing and combating corruption. By combining strict punishment, institutional improvement, effective oversight and integrity education, China aims to address the conditions that give rise to corruption while preventing its recurrence. 

The fight against corruption will continue with a tough stance that leaves no restricted areas, no exceptions and zero tolerance.