Baijiu ban a reminder that China’s corruption crackdown isn’t done yet

Note: The following is an edited translation of an article from the Chinese-language "Commentaries on International Affairs."

Bottles of Moutai liquor. [File photo: VCG]

Guizhou Province is the home of China’s well-known baijiu brand Moutai. On Thursday, the provincial government published an official notice prohibiting local officials, along with their spouses and family members, from taking advantage of their position to meddle with the operation of the company and the distribution of the expensive liquor in exchange for personal benefit. Pictures of the documents, co-authored by the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee, spread quickly on social media in China, with many people noting the clear message of deterrence it sends to officials.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) recently issued a statement that said "the anti-corruption struggle has won an overwhelming victory." Since the 19th National Congress of the CPC in 2017, the CCDI has achieved remarkable results in its crackdown on both high-ranking and lower-level corrupt officials. It has also had substantial success at repatriating fugitive officials who had escaped abroad. In 2018, 620,000 people were punished, including 51 provincial and ministerial-level officials. Nearly 240,000 corruption cases implicating 316,000 officials have been dealt with. Over the past four years, China has managed to have more than 5,000 fugitives from over 120 countries repatriated, including 56 people on its list of 100 most wanted fugitives. And around 10 billion yuan (1.5 billion U.S. dollars) in ill-gotten gains have been seized.

According to a survey by the country's National Bureau of Statistics, since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012 the level of community satisfaction with anti-corruption work has been rising every year, and now exceeds 90 percent. The anti-corruption drive has also enhanced China’s attractiveness to the outside world as a place to do business: According to the World Bank's Business Environment Report released last year, China has edged up by 32 places, ranking 46th in the world. Even some observers in the international media have noticed that the anti-corruption drive has continued to evolve, pointing to the introduction of the Supervision Law last year. They’ve also noted the establishment of the National Supervisory Commission, and its inclusion in China’s constitution.

As the battle against corruption intensified, there was greater focus on areas where corruption had become entrenched. For example, October 17 was the fifth National Poverty Alleviation Day. On that day, the CPC Central Committee dispatched inspection teams to 13 regions around the country, and to 11 central government agencies and two financial enterprises. As a result of these investigations, 133,000 cases of inappropriate behavior were identified and 180,000 officials disciplined for corruption or dereliction of duty in the field of poverty alleviation.

China has worked hand-in-hand with its international partners in its efforts to pursue fugitives that fled overseas to avoid prosecution and punishment for corrupt behavior. For example, in November an official from Zhejiang Province who was on the run for 13 years was extradited from Bulgaria. This was the first extradition since the National Supervisory Commission was established. It is also the first time China has extradited a former public servant from a European Union member state for suspected duty-related crimes. Last year, China had more than 1,000 fugitives suspected of corruption repatriated, and more than 519 million U.S. dollars were recovered. And China’s efforts in working with its international partners as a party to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption has helped with the global crackdown on cross-border corruption.

For a long time, some members of the international community doubted China's determination to sustain a wide-spread and long-term anti-corruption campaign. But the successes of the corruption crackdown over the past few years speak for themselves, and people both at home and abroad have increasingly acknowledged its positive results and the resulting improvement in the image of both China’s government and the CPC.

But despite these substantial successes, China’s anti-corruption struggle still has a long way to go. It seems that this year China will focus on investigating corruption in major projects, as well as continuing the investigations into wrongdoing in the finance sector. And extravagance by public officials will face renewed attention and criticism, as demonstrated by the warning from Guizhou Province for officials tempted to use their expensive local liquor for their personal gain.