Constitution amendment tops agenda for CPC January session

BEIJING -- The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee decided Wednesday to discuss a proposal about amending part of China's Constitution at the second plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee in January.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the political bureau meeting Wednesday, which also listened to a work report from the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and discussed the Party's anti-graft work in 2018.

The campaign to ensure full and strict governance over the Party and curb corruption shall not stop, said a statement issued after the meeting.

The CCDI should take the responsibility to supervise Party members, implement discipline and hold violators responsible under the guidelines of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, according to the document.

While safeguarding the authority of CPC Constitution and regulations, the CCDI should carefully check the implementation of the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and decisions made by the CPC Central Committee.

Stressing the importance of political discipline and regulations, the statement said discipline inspection agencies will focus on Party members who are disloyal and dishonest to the Party, who comply in public but oppose in private, who disobey the Party's political guidelines and compromise the political environment.

Stressing the significance of the campaign against undesirable work styles, the statement said that the priority is to curb bureaucratism, red tape and privileges among senior officials.

To consolidate the progress of the anti-graft campaign, the CCDI will push forward reform of the national supervision system and fight corruption at the lower ranks, the statement said.

Officials who did not stop their misconduct after the Party's 18th National Congress in late 2012, those who the public have strongly complained about, and senior officials who are likely to be promoted will be placed under strict scrutiny.

Those who develop personal networks and foster interest groups within the Party will face severe punishment, the statement said.

Before the meeting, Xi chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

The 19th CCDI will hold its second plenary session from Jan. 11 to 13, 2018.