Zhang Fuhai discusses China’s distinctive path to fighting corruption: New-era campaign consistently tackles both symptoms and root causes through a systemic approach

What changed

At a 30 October press conference in Beijing, Zhang Fuhai outlined China’s “distinctive” approach to fighting corruption. He said the campaign is centrally led and designed to tackle both misconduct and its underlying causes through punishment, prevention and education.

Zhang, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and deputy director of the National Commission of Supervision, tied the approach to the interpretation of the Fifth Plenum of the 20th Central Committee. He also described new work on public consultation, official conduct and persistent enforcement.

Why it matters

The emphasis is on making anti-corruption work part of the machinery of government, not just a series of investigations. Zhang said the system should make officials afraid to corrupt, unable to corrupt and unwilling to corrupt, with each aim reinforcing the others.

That means the next phase reaches beyond headline cases. The measures discussed include deeper consultation with the public on major decisions, stronger attention to formalism and bureaucratism, action against privilege, and efforts to catch concealed forms of misconduct.

The political test will be implementation. The briefing did not quantify enforcement results or set deadlines, so the practical weight of the policy will depend on how consistently these mechanisms are applied across regions and government sectors.