A number of major corruption cases were uncovered before the NPC and CPPCC sessions, netting quite a number of corrupted officials to the satisfaction of the people.

The move reflects the determination of the government and the result of institutional innovation over the past few years.

All the cases revealed institutional flaws and a strong interest chains behind the money-power trade-off, said NPC deputies from Northeast China. Without smashing the interest chains and removing the institutional flaws, it would be impossible to curb corruption that has assumed an almost endemic proportion.

The Chinese government is on the right track when it has decided to curb corruption institutionally, said Zuo Lianbi, an inspector of the Central Disciplinary Commission of the CPC central committee and CPPCC member, adding that the promulgation of the intra-Party supervision regulations is a case in point.

The accelerated reforms of the financial and administrative systems, redefinition of the government roles in social and economic development and the evolution of a more scientific approach to development that places people above everything else --all these constitute part of the efforts by the country to fight corruption.

These reforms have minimized the space for the survival of corruption, said Xie Yong, a CPPCC member and deputy president of the Higher People's Court of Hunan Province.

The future political stability depends on the ability of the ruling party to strike a complicated and delicate balance among people groups with conflicting interests, said Zuo Lianbi. It would be too pessimistic or too optimistic to place hopes of eliminating corruption on political reform only. It is not realistic to put an immediate end to corruption as soon as a sound political system is put in place. The fight against corruption requires a breakthrough in political reform and the support of economic measures and the coordination of social reforms, Zuo added.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2004)