The central government is set to begin a new wave of “disciplinary inspections,” aimed at rooting out graft and other wrongdoing at 34 government departments and state-owned enterprises, Xinhua reported on Monday.
According to the state-affiliated news agency, the organisations include the nation’s central bank, the stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, major insurance companies and the finance ministry.
Five of China’s biggest banks, including the Bank of China and the China Construction Bank, will also be inspected as part of the campaign.
The last round of inspections, which took place three years ago, involved 25 key organisations in the finance sector and resulted in the arrest of a number of high-profile figures such as the former Bank of China head Liu Liange and the former leader of China Everbright Group Tang Shuangning.
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Since coming into power in 2012, President Xi Jinping has taken a hardline approach against corruption, which he views as a threat to the ruling communist party and the stability of the country.
Recently, the Chinese leader said his administration would double down on its anti-graft campaign, in spite of reports that it is having a detrimental effect on the country’s economic recovery.
“The banking sector is always a focus for graft-busters,” said a Beijing academic who spoke with the South China Morning Post under anonymity. “But now the new inspections are part of stricter, more intrusive, pervasive party supervision of the entire financial sector.”
In terms of corruption, Transparency International gave China a ranking of 76 out of 180, and a score of 42 out of 100, with 100 representing “very clean.”
