A decade into President Xi Jinping's anti-graft drive, data shows the campaign has widened to include record numbers of senior officials and new forms of corruption.

President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign has evolved from a policy initially viewed as a temporary measure into a permanent fixture of Chinese governance. Over the past decade, the initiative has expanded significantly, targeting a growing number of senior officials and addressing complex new forms of graft, including cryptocurrency schemes and clandestine proxies.

Evolution of the Anti-Graft Drive

During the early years of President Xi's first term, authorities frequently sought to reassure the public that the campaign was not a short-lived effort. This skepticism persisted despite the high-profile downfall of Zhou Yongkang, a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee, in 2013. Wang Qishan, the party's top anti-corruption chief at the time, specifically warned local governments against treating the crackdown as a temporary movement.

Data Trends and Regional Impact

Analysis by the South China Morning Post indicates that the campaign has intensified, with the number of senior officials punished in 2024 being three times higher than in 2013. In total, 983,000 individuals received punishments last year, ranging from warnings to criminal prosecutions. Between 2013 and 2025, 60 percent of senior officials targeted were serving in regional governments. Resource-rich areas, including Jiangxi, Liaoning, Shanxi, Hebei, and Inner Mongolia, recorded the highest number of dismissals.