Senior Chinese leader Xi Jinping has urged the Party to improve its criteria for selecting and appointing cadres in the process of building the Party in the new era.

Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), made the remarks recently at a workshop attended by delegates from the Party's Organization Department in Beijing.

The Party should set officials' integrity, performance and their dedication to their work as an important criteria for selecting and appointing cadres, Xi said.

The CPC's 17th national congress put forward the aim of increasing public trust in cadre selection and appointment, Xi said, noting that new progress should be made in this area.

The Party should give special attention to cadres who have long been working diligently in places fraught with hardships and difficulties, and promote cadres who work hard, enjoy popular support and have political integrity, Xi stressed.

He vowed to severely punish crooked Party officials linked to corruption and dereliction of duty.

(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2008)