Chinese President Hu Jintao has pledged to lead a renewed battle against entrenched corruption, saying the scourge remains serious and a source of contention among the nation's people.
But Hu, who is also head of the ruling Communist Party, offered no concrete political reform proposals to curb rampant abuse of power, instead issuing a set of edicts urging leaders to better "serve the people".
"We must remain clear that we are still facing some prominent problems in building a clean and honest party and government and in fighting corruption," Hu said Monday in a speech before the party's leaders and its anti-graft body.
"The anti-corruption struggle will be a protracted, complicated and arduous task," Hu said, according to state media reports.
During much of his eight years in power, Hu has repeatedly pledged to crack down on corruption, with a series of high-profile trials targeting officials who are invariably convicted for graft and embezzlement.
A government report issued two weeks ago said the country's "harmony and stability" depended on efforts to build a clean government.
Chinese political observers and academics have long maintained that much of the graft in China is linked to an over-concentration of power in the hands of officials and that without political reform, corruption will be hard to curb.
Although Hu pledged to step up measures to investigate and prosecute corrupt officials, he also ordered better "education campaigns" to teach leaders how to strengthen their "self-discipline".
"All comrades in the party must serve the people with all their hearts and use their power to seek benefits for them," Hu said.
"Only by doing so can our work earn the most comprehensive and solid foundation among the people and stand the tests of storms and risks."
He also acknowledged the widespread contempt of ordinary Chinese for official graft and urged efforts "to strengthen ties between the party and the people".
He said citizens should have a greater role in fighting corruption, but refrained from detailing how this would be done.
We must "combat graft strictly and punish corrupt officials severely" so as "to win trust from the people," Hu said.
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