China's anti-graft agency to focus on political factions and organised corruption
Analysts say campaign will shift focus to organised corruption within party cliques
The Communist Party's anti-graft agency began its plenary session in Beijing yesterday, with President Xi Jinping expected to shift the focus of his corruption crackdown to factions and organised graft within the party's ranks this year.
Political pundits are closely watching the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's three-day meeting, which will likely report on the progress of Xi's campaign and lay out ways to sustain it.
Beijing-based political analyst Zhang Lifan said the campaign's focus this year would be on party factions.
Earlier this month, state mouthpiece Xinhua made a rare acknowledgement of factions in the party, naming several disgraced senior officials connected to the so-called Shanxi, Secretary and Petroleum gangs.
Last year, the graft-buster netted four national-level officials - former security tsar Zhou Yongkang , former presidential aide Ling Jihua , former Central Military Commission chairman General Xu Caihou , and former Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference vice-chairman Su Rong . A total of 68 provincial-level officials were also put under investigation.
Ling is accused of heading the "Shanxi Gang", a corrupt network of officials and businessmen from the province.