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The government's latest anti-graft campaign is notable for its determination to delegate and limit administrative power, instead of cracking down on corruption case by case, said Liu Shanying, a political researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The six measures that Li Keqiang put forward to help build a clean government - the delegation of, and restrictions on, power; tighter budgetary supervision; official transparency; diligence and frugality; and the rule of law - are all intended to either limit or cede some administrative power to lower levels of government and the public, according to Liu. "By restricting the use of government power, the leadership is attempting to reduce the chances of possible derelictions of duty and weed out graft."

Li's pledge is an upgrade of the existing anti-graft policy, he added, saying that although there have been repeated calls for a reduction of unnecessary government intervention in the market, it is the first time the top leadership has officially used the phrase "institutional dividend", referring to stimulation of the economy through a reduction of administrative involvement.