Campaign against graft in 'tug of war'

China's anti-corruption drive will neither cease nor decelerate in the new year, the top anti-corruption body announced on the first working day after the Chinese New Year holiday.

"Anti-corruption is a lasting and life-or-death war that we cannot afford to lose, and there is no room for deceleration or rest in the war," said a statement on Wednesday on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. "We must keep fighting one battle after another."

Disciplinary authorities at all levels should get rid of the festival mood and vigorously devote themselves to work, since the anti-corruption forces and the corruption forces are in a tug of war and all achievements won fighting corruption in the past two years will be lost with any letup in anti-corruption efforts, the statement said.

Disciplinary authorities must complete their tasks in fighting "both tigers and flies", meaning senior and lower-ranking corrupt officials, and rooting out corruption, according to the statement.

"The statement shows the resolve from the very top leadership to continue to fight corruption this year," said Wu Hui, a researcher at the Party School of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

After progress was achieved in fighting corruption since the new leadership took up their posts in late 2012, the anti-corruption drive has entered a tug of war stage in which the anti-corruption forces and corruption forces have almost equal power, he said.

"The whole society and the Party have been watching since the beginning of the new year. ... They want to know whether the current anti-corruption campaign is just temporary or a cause that will last," Wu said. "The top leadership has given a clear answer."

Historian Liu Heping said that there is no turning back in the fight against corruption and that it serves as a safeguard for China's future development.

"Fighting corruption will damage the interests of some groups, but it will promote the healthy development of the whole of industry and society," he said in an article posted on the CCDI website.

The website received 1,818 whistle-blowing reports from across China during Spring Festival from Feb 18 to 23, a decrease of 10 percent compared with last year, according to the CCDI. The commission also received about 300 such reports by telephone over the six days, equivalent to last year, it said.

"Most of the reports are about bribery, embezzlement and dereliction of duty," Su Yungui, an official who handles petitions at the CCDI, told China Central Television.

Dozens of officials at vice-ministerial level or above have been put under investigation for corruption since late 2012, including some former State and military leaders such as Zhou Yongkang and Xu Caihou.

"In the past two years, most of those under investigation were government officials, but signs show corruption in State-owned enterprises, including financial institutions, will be a primary target for disciplinary authorities," said Wu, the researcher.

Inspection teams sent by the CCDI will inspect 26 of China's biggest State-owned enterprises in its first round of inspection this year for disciplinary violations and corruption, the CCDI announced earlier this month.