Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Friday called for intensified anti-corruption efforts at a grand rally in Beijing to mark the 85th founding anniversary of the CPC.

Hu, also Chinese President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, urged CPC members to always keep and develop the vanguard character of the CPC to "consolidate its governing status, improve its governing capability and carry out missions of its governance".

All the nine members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee attended the rally.

The CPC was founded on July 1, 1921. Since then, it has grown from a small party of 50-plus members to a party with more than 70 million members.

Hu called on the nation's over 70 million Party members to fully realize the strategic importance of anti-corruption efforts to maintain the vanguard character of CPC members, and never slacken the fight against corruption even for a second.

Hu noted that there still exist some prominent problems that do not conform with the vanguard character of the CPC, as some Party members do not stand firmly for their political belief, some do not strictly abide by the Party's discipline, and some grassroots Party organizations are still weak in mechanism.

Corruption is still rampant in some fields, as cases of cadres abusing power for personal gains are frequently reported, Hu said.

Former deputy commander of the navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), Wang Shouye, was expelled on Thursday from China's national legislature on charges of economic crimes, after his mistress turned him in.

According to documents submitted to the NPC, an unmarried young woman admitted to authorities that she had been keeping an "improper relationship" with Wang "for a long time."

Also on Thursday, a court opened in East China's Anhui Province to hear the case of former deputy head of provincial finance department Kuang Bingwen and his son Kuang Zhongpin, who were charged with taking bribes of 861,000 yuan and 51,000 U.S. dollars and embezzling public funds.

Hu stressed the Party members should attach much attention, take effective measures and make painstaking efforts to combat corruption. And all Party members should fully realize that the campaign of maintaining vanguard character of the Party is a long-term task of historic importance.

Hu said the campaign of maintaining vanguard character of the CPC members should be accompanied by the practice of implementing the scientific viewpoint of development, building a socialist harmonious society and enhancing the Party's governance capability.

Hu called for continuing to reform the cadre selection system to make the process more transparent and allow the public more say and bigger supervisory role in the process.

Inner-party supervision on the Party's leadership and cadres should be strengthened, Hu said, adding the Party should also welcome supervision from the top legislature, government, top advisory body, non-communist parties, legal departments, as well as media and the masses.

Hu called on all party members, especially cadres, to follow the good tradition of the Party, and the socialist moral concept of the so-called "Ba Rong Ba Chi"(Eight Honors and Eight Disgraces).

"We should keep doing good deeds that benefit people, be always aware of the harm of greedy desires, keep disciplining our acts, self-consciously resist money worship, hedonism and out-and-out egoism," he said.

"And we should always serve the people with down-to-earth and effective measures, and play a leading role in creating a sound and upright social atmosphere," he added.

He called for adhering to the policy of adopting punishment as well as prevention measures in anti-corruption work, with more emphasis going to prevention. A comprehensive mechanism should be established based on education programs, laws and regulations as well as supervision systems.

Hu said the educational campaign of the Party on maintaining the vanguard character of CPC members has achieved marked results, but continuous efforts should be made in this field as strengthening the vanguard character of the Party is a long-term historic task.

Keeping the vanguard character is the root cause of the success of the CPC, said Hu.

He said the Party has been the core force in China's revolution, construction and reform and always stood invincible in the fluctuating international and domestic environments because it always represents the development trend of China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the majority of the Chinese people.

Source: Xinhua