A sweeping anti-corruption drive will help create a social environment for fair competition. With the deepening of reforms and the progress of society, the Party and the ordinary people have shown less tolerance toward corruption.

The former leader Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China's reform and opening-up, said that some regions and people should be allowed to become rich first and then help other regions and people become wealthy and finally realize a common prosperity. Such a development approach was aimed at breaking the country's rigid economic structure at that time. With such a policy environment, a number of private entrepreneurs have emerged and created enormous individual wealth. However, the excessive concentration of social wealth, especially at a time when the country's democracy and legal system are yet to improve, has also increased corruption.

Polarization of social wealth, when combined with corruption, can easily give rise to some social problems and make the encroachment into public, national and collective interests unavoidable and even ignite a fuse for the outbreak of some mass or unexpected incidents, thus endangering social and political stability.

Since Deng's inspection tour to the south in 1992, China has maintained high-speed economic development for more than 20 years, but in this process, conflicts among people and between man and nature have become fiercer, and such problems as the lack of coordination and sustainability have become more outstanding. The ruling Party and central government have taken some measures, such as the adoption of a scientific development perspective and setting the goal of building a harmonious society, to resolve or curb the problems.

However, the phenomenon of corruption and related social injustice have failed to really be addressed and some corrupt officials have tried to sabotage the market order, hamper scientific development, infringe on the interests of the people and compromise social harmony and stability. These also make the Party and ordinary people less tolerant toward any laxness in eliminating corruption and punishing violations of law.

To achieve ideal effects in the anti-corruption campaign, a sound legal system and full-fledged democracy are also needed. Only with a well-developed legal system and the extensive participation of ordinary people, can China gain the necessary legal guarantee and a solid foundation for anti-corruption work.

The article first appeared in Study Times.