Recently, the CPC Central Committee promulgated the "Enforcement Outline on the Establishment and Perfection of a System for Punishing and Preventing Corruption that Attaches Equal Importance to Education, Institution and Supervision", emphasizing adherence to the principle of treating the problem by looking into both the root cause and symptoms, dealing with the question in a comprehensive way, employing the method of punishing and preventing corruption simultaneously and putting emphasis on prevention, and adopting effective measures to set up a sound system for punishing and preventing corruption. The editorial published in People's Daily today says that this is an important strategic decision taken on the basis of summing up historical experiences and making scientific judgment of the situation by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Hu Jintao as the General Secretary.

The editorial says that under the new situation, the Party Central Committee conscientiously analyzed the causes for the emergence of the phenomenon of corruption and emphasized the need to effectively prevent corruption from its source while severely punishing corrupt elements. At the just closed Fifth Plenary Session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Comrade Hu Jintao, from the strategic height of strengthening the Party's governance capability building, profoundly expounded the paramount importance of doing a good job in combating corruption and promoting the building of a clean and honest government, he called for intensifying efforts in guarding against corruption in conformity with the Party Central Committee's spirit and the arrangement of the "Enforcement Outline" and continuing to unswervingly push forward the construction of Party style of work and of a clean and honest administration.

The article points out that penalty and prevention are two aspects which complement and promote each other in the work of combating corruption and promoting the building of a clean and honest government. The "Enforcement Outline" underlines the need to give full play to the important role of punishment in the system of penalizing and preventing corruption. Intensifying efforts in the work of preventing corruption is by no means slackening the work of punishing corruption. Far from loosening the work, we must continue to grasp it firmly and tightly. Effective prevention itself requires severe punishment, which, in turn, is conducive to effective prevention. It is necessary to punish corrupt elements through resolute investigation and prosecution of cases of violations of laws and discipline and enforce strict Party discipline, so as to educate the vast number of Party members and cadres. To specifically deal with signs of problems exposed in corrupt cases and weak links, it is imperative to timely formulate regulations, plug loopholes and give play to the constructive role of case-handling and seeking permanent solution of a problem; it is necessary to focus efforts on reducing the soil and conditions that breed and spread the phenomenon of corruption and reinforce the confidence of cadres and the masses in punishing corruption, so as to better form a cohesion for punishing and preventing corruption.

The article confirms that China's reform and development are in a crucial period and the task of combating corruption and promoting the building of a clean and honest administration is onerous and arduous. In compliance with the plan and requirements of the Party Central Committee, we should both enhance our sense of the urgency of work and establish the ideology of fighting long-term battles; both carry forward our fine tradition and persist in reform and innovation; both severely punish corruption and effectively prevent corruption, so as to bring about the overall advancement and sound development of the construction of Party style of work and of a clean and honest administration and the work of combating corruption.

By People's Daily Online