The fight against corruption has been one of the top priorities of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Adel Sabry, vice chief editor of the Egyptian newspaper Al-Wafd, discussed his perspective on the CPC's fight against corruption. His views are as follows:  

In February 2007, when I visited China as a member of an Egyptian delegation, I was surprised to find that Chinese people could talk about corruption so openly. I had gotten the impression from Western media that China always avoided touching this topic. On the contrary, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have made anti-corruption one of their top priorities and the Chinese media regularly report on instances of corruption.

I came to China again in May, as the country was under scrutiny from Western media. Both Time and The Economist had recently run cover stories about China's corruption problems. After arriving in Beijing, I found that not only did government officials express their opinions on corruption openly, but they also disclosed details of corruption cases.

In 2007, the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention (NBCP) was established to tackle the problem of corruption. The media has long paid close attention to corruption and has revealed major cases. The data from the NBCP show that from 1982 to 2011, a total of 4.2 million government and Party officials were punished for corruption, among whom 465 were officials at ministerial and provincial levels. According to Cui Hairong, Deputy Director of the NBCP, between 2003 and 2011, more than 42,000 officials were transferred to the judicial organs on charges of corruption, including Chen Liangyu, a former member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

I once talked about the problem of corruption with the vice mayor of Shanghai during a visit. He said that in 2010 the disciplinary inspection and supervision departments nationwide handled 139,621 cases of embezzlement and bribery, completed 139,482 cases and punished 146,517 officials, retrieving 8.97 billion yuan ($1.42 billion). In his view, corruption exists in every country, and it is important to punish corrupt officials because of their negative impact on society and the economy. He also called on countries around the world to unite in fighting against corruption. According to him, China has so far signed anti-corruption cooperation pacts with more than 80 countries and regions.

In May 2011, China passed an act aimed at punishing corrupt officials at the village level, the first attempt to restrain the conduct of cadres at the village level. This act forbade these cadres from seeking benefits for their relatives by using their administrative power. They were also prohibited from securing illegal benefits for themselves in land transfers and rentals. If the cadres violated the act, they would be punished accordingly and their illicit gains would be seized.

Corruption appears in various forms around the world, endangering a country's economy and political system. Therefore, it should be a high priority for every nation to address it. China's corrupt officials can even be sentenced to death according to the law, demonstrating China's strict determination to root out corruption.