International anti-corruption organization “Transparency International” released the “Global Perception Index of Cleanliness 2025” on February 10th. The report shows that mainland China scored 43 points, ranking 76th out of over 180 countries and regions globally, the same as in 2024. The global score dropped to 42 points, the lowest level in over a decade. Scholars point out that China is one of the “most corrupt countries.”
“Transparency International” indicated that the Cleanliness Perception Index evaluates the cleanliness of public sectors in various countries by integrating 13 data sources, including expert assessments and business perceptions. The index scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating a higher level of cleanliness in the public sector. Countries with scores exceeding 80 points are considered to meet the standard of clean governance, with only 5 countries reaching this level this year, a significant decrease from 12 countries a decade ago.
According to Transparency International’s evaluation criteria, scores below 50 are considered to have serious corruption issues. Mainland China scored 43 points, lingering in the range of 40 points for several years, consistently ranking between 70 and 80 overall with no significant improvement.
A retired teacher from Shanghai, who goes by the pseudonym Yuan Jian, mentioned in an interview with reporters that despite the continued loud anti-corruption efforts by officials in recent years, corruption issues still prevail. He said, “Transparency International’s investigation mainly relies on public data, but many actual situations are not widely known. There are also issues at the grassroots level. For example, street offices and neighborhood committees may engage in irregular operations involving small fees and management processes. For instance, in parking lot management, not issuing invoices can result in undercharging, a common occurrence.”
Yuan Jian believes that corruption issues are not only reflected in the downfall of high-ranking officials but also affect the daily experiences of ordinary people. “Many people perceive various forms of corruption, big and small, persisting in the long term.”
Since 2018, China’s ranking in the Global Perception Index of Cleanliness has mostly been in the 70s. In 2018, it was around 87th place and has slightly risen since then; ranking 79th in 2023 and staying at 76th in both 2024 and 2025.
Over the past three years, China’s ranking has remained in the 70s. In the past 5 to 7 years, the ranking has generally been between 70 to 80, with scores lingering around 40 points, showing no clear changes.
A Guizhou scholar studying local finance, Mr. Wu, expressed to reporters that in recent years, as local financial pressures rise, there are still instances of power rent-seeking and embezzlement in some grassroots public resource allocation processes. He said, “Corruption issues have always existed in our region, with the diversion of subsistence allowances being common, and town governments reserving positions for friends and relatives. Some cases involve amounts in the millions or even billions, and once exposed, they lead to issues of buying and selling official positions. Many people think corruption only occurs in underdeveloped regions, but similar situations exist at the grassroots level.”
Since January this year, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China has successively announced on its official website that many officials have been investigated or disciplined during or after their tenure. Among them, over 40 officials at the rank of ministerial-level, deputy ministerial-level, and bureau-level have been placed under investigation or disciplined, including two vice-national-level officials. The cases involve various fields like the military, the National People’s Congress system, finance, energy, state-owned enterprises, military industry, and local party-government systems.
A constitutional scholar from Beijing, going by the pseudonym Teng Qiang, told reporters that the long-term stagnation of the cleanliness index around 40 points is not a coincidence but an external manifestation of institutional problems. He pointed out that the cleanliness index is closely related to the degree of judicial independence, the system of checks and balances, and the transparency of information, which happen to be the weakest links in the Communist Party’s system.
Teng Qiang said, “In a one-party dictatorship system, power lacks real constraints and external supervision, where more anti-corruption efforts are internal purges of power. As long as there is no fundamental change in the political structure, corruption is difficult to truly contain, and it may even lead to a cycle of ‘the more investigated, the more corrupt.’ Many people aspire to official positions due to the allure of power, and the authoritarian structure becomes the breeding ground for corruption. If the supervision system remains in the hands of the Communist Party, corruption will continue to reappear in different forms.”