CPC's Nov meeting to discuss deepening of reform

The whole party should maintain unity with the CPC Central Committee in both their ideas and actions, follow the central leadership's judgement of the situation and plan for a corruption fight, according to the statement.

"To stop the spread of corruption should be a major task and goal for the whole party," said the statement.

The meeting stressed again to crack down on both "tigers" and "flies" in anti-corruption moves and investigate violations by Party officials.

"Corruption is still a common phenomenon, the soil that nourishes corruption still exists, and the situation remains critical and complicated," the statement noted.

For the CPC, system building against corruption is a "major political task"; and for the whole society, it is a common responsibility, the statement said.

The Party must strictly discipline its members and punish corrupt officials more severely, the statement said.

To prevent corruption, the Party must start with curbing bureaucratism, formalism, hedonism and extravagance and improve officials' work style.

The statement vowed to reform the CPC discipline inspection system; innovate the anticorruption mechanism, improve the CPC multilevel supervision and inspection systems at all levels.

The exercise of power by officials must be checked and supervised to create a system, whereby officials dare not be corrupt and corruption tends not to happen, it said.

Moreover, the statement said discipline inspectors and supervision organs and staff should make themselves upright at first, be clean and honest to serve the people.

Streamline local govt

The Political Bureau also vowed to transform local government and push forward institutional reform.

Local government functions are to be transformed and streamlined to establish an administrative system with Chinese characteristics and dovetail with the central government's efforts in this regard, according to the statement.

The core of the proposed reform is to transform government functions,with the emphasis on further reforming the administrative approval system with the view of continuing to streamline government and delegate power to the lower levels. The institutional reform should focus on prominent issues concerning people's livelihood.

Violations in government staffing should be resolutely investigated and punished.

Effective measures should be taken to ensure various requirements on transforming and streamlining the local government are well implemented so as to let the people feel the actual effect of change brought by the reform, according to the meeting.

Building pliot FTZ in Shanghai

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee threw its weight behind the planned Shanghai pilot free trade zone (FTZ) on Tuesday.

Establishing the flagship Shanghai FTZ in response to new circumstances is an important step forward in reform and opening up, said the statement.

The program will spearhead the CPC Central Committee's endeavor to explore new ways of improving management, advancing the transformation of government functions, facilitating trade and investment, and deepening reform and opening up the economy, said the statement.

The political bureau urged the State Council, or Cabinet, Shanghai municipal government and all related government departments to work together to forge ahead with the program.