New round of disciplinary checks starts across country

15 teams tasked with examining business, government entities

Fifteen inspection teams tasked with enforcing Party discipline have been sent to examine 30 provincial-level regions, ministry-level agencies and State-owned enterprises, China's top anti-graft watchdog announced over the weekend.

The assignments mark the start of the first round of inspections conducted by the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement on its website.

The teams will inspect Party organizations in 14 provincial-level regions, including Hebei and Guangdong provinces; eight ministry-level entities, such as the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs; and eight State-owned enterprises, including China National Nuclear Corp.

Ten cities, including Dalian and Shenyang in Liaoning province; Nanjing, Jiangsu province; and Shenzhen, Guangdong province, will also be visited by inspectors.

The inspectors have arrived at Party organizations and will stay until late May - longer than previous inspections, which have typically lasted about two months.

The teams expect to receive tipoffs about suspected conduct violations by leading officials. Also, the teams are required to focus their inspections on key officials and official units, the CCDI said.

Chen Yanling, leader of the inspection team dispatched to Hunan province and the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, said earlier that the team has been planning to make unannounced visits to places receiving the most public complaints in order to address as many grievances as possible.

Chen made the remarks after a meeting on Feb 2 addressing how to carry out the latest round of inspections more effectively. It is Chen's ninth time leading an inspection team. He had been involved in all 12 rounds of inspections conducted during the term of the 18th CPC Central Committee.

Times have changed and China is facing a new situation, Yang Hongyong, deputy head of the inspection team sent to China General Technology and China Post, said after the meeting, adding that inspection methods need to be innovated to adapt to the ever-developing situation.

Starting from the first inspection in May 2013, Party organizations of 277 units and institutions have been inspected, and 16 provincial-level regions have been re-examined.

According to the CCDI, more than 50 percent of investigations into centrally administered officials were triggered by information uncovered by Party discipline inspectors since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012.

One of the major tasks of the CCDI in 2018 is to build on the overwhelming momentum of the anti-graft campaign, addressing corruption that occurs on the people's doorsteps and implementing in earnest full and strict governance over the Party, Zhao Leji, head of the commission, said in February.