The Chinese Communist Party’s anti-corruption department announced that in the first half of this year, a total of 420,000 people were disciplined nationwide, including 30 high-ranking officials at the provincial and ministerial levels, representing an increase of nearly 30% compared to the same period last year. Many commentators believe that the CCP’s corruption is systemic, leading to a situation where the more they crack down, the more corruption spreads.
According to a report from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party on July 19, during the first half of 2025, the nationwide discipline inspection and supervision organs handled a total of 521,000 cases, resulting in disciplinary actions against 420,000 individuals, including 30 officials at the provincial and ministerial levels.
In the first half of 2024, the official report disclosed that there were 405,000 cases opened and 332,000 people disciplined, including 25 provincial and ministerial-level officials. A comparison with the same period last year shows an increase in both the number of cases and the total number of individuals disciplined, with a 26% rise in the latter.
On July 18 of this year, Liu Hui, Deputy Director of the Education, Science, Health, and Sports Committee of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was investigated for corruption.
Liu Hui is the 36th centrally-administered official investigated and the 6th high-ranking “tiger” to fall this year. The five senior officials investigated prior to her were all investigated while in office, including Jin Xiangjun, then Governor of Shanxi Province; Lan Tianli, then Chairman of the Guangxi Autonomous Region; Qizhala, former Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region and National Committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Jiang Chaoliang, former Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee and current National Committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; and Bi Jingquan, former National Committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and former Director of the China Food and Drug Administration.
In recent years, every time the CCP releases anti-corruption data, it is often criticized for becoming more corrupt in the process.
Wang Youqun, a former writer for the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, wrote in the Epoch Times that the corruption within the CCP is systemic. The Chinese Communist Party’s system is a one-party dictatorship where the party controls legislation, law enforcement, and the judiciary, as well as decision-making, execution, and supervision. Being both players, coaches, and referees at the same time, there cannot be effective supervision. The lack of strong supervision leads to continuous and rampant corruption.
Historian Li Yuanhua, who resides in Australia, commented on NTD Television that the CCP selectively targets corruption cases and sometimes uses anti-corruption efforts as a tool to suppress opponents. The commission investigating corrupt officials is actually a department plagued by severe bribery and corruption.
On January 6, 2025, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party held a plenary meeting where CCP leader Xi Jinping declared, “The reservoir of corruption has not been drained, and new sources of corruption continue to emerge.” In order to consolidate the “unchanging red regime,” the commission vowed to “resolutely wage this tough, prolonged, and all-out battle.”
Yuan Hongbing, an expert familiar with the CCP’s internal affairs, stated in an interview with the Epoch Times that the CCP’s recent extensive purge of officials under the guise of combating corruption and addressing lifestyle issues is, in reality, politically motivated. He revealed that many officials, including those from the second-generation reds within the CCP and others, are currently looking to see Xi Jinping step down.
In the past two years, a considerable number of officials, such as Qin Gang and Miao Hua, who were promoted by Xi Jinping, have faced consequences. In a document released by the CCP on August 29, 2016, titled “Opinions on Preventing the ‘Elevation of Officials with Health Issues,'” it was stipulated that if the practice of “promoting officials with health issues” leads to serious consequences or occurs repeatedly on a large scale, the main leaders of the Party committees must be held accountable.
Commentator Du Zheng pointed out in an article published in Taiwanese media “Up Media” in May of this year that over 30 members of the entire Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party have faced repercussions. Official media claims that members of this Central Committee were personally vetted by Xi Jinping, making him the ultimate responsible authority.