Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping on Thursday stressed that corruption “is a pressing problem facing the ruling party” as he vowed to fight the cankerworm.
Xi made the remark in his first public speech after succeeding President Hu Jintao as the general-secretary of the party, Chinese state media reports.
“The whole party must stay on full alert,” Xi said after the party completed its first leadership change after 10 years.
“To address these problems, we must first of all conduct ourselves honourably,” Xi said. The 59-year-old leader also took over from Hu as chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission on Thursday and would succeed him as president in March.
Hu, 69, has led the party since 2002 and Xi is expected to lead it for the next decade.
Xi heads a new seven-member Standing Committee of the party’s all-powerful Politburo, elected by the party’s Central Committee on Thursday.
Accompanied by the six other new leaders, Xi said Vice Premier Li Keqiang, 57, who is expected to succeed Wen Jiabao as Prime minister in March, will join Xi on the Standing Committee.
The other five top leaders are Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli.
Former leaders Hu and Jiang Zemin are expected to continue to exercise power behind the scenes.
“Under the new conditions, our party faces many severe challenges, and there are also many pressing problems within the party that need to be resolved,” Xi said.
His vow to tackle corruption, formalism and bureaucracy follows a series of scandals involving senior officials in recent months.
Xi urged party officials to impose “strict discipline to improve our conduct and maintain close ties with the people.”
He said the new leaders would “rally and lead the whole party and the people” to improve the lives of China’s 1.3 billion people by promoting economic reform and “advancing the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
Hu warned at the start of the party’s five-yearly congress, which ended on Wednesday, that unchecked corruption could destroy the party.
“If we fail to handle this issue well, it could prove fatal to the party, and even cause the collapse of the party and the fall of the state,” Hu said. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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