China’s Anti-Corruption Campaign Maintains Momentum in 2025

Beijing, – Throughout 2025, China has continued its anti-corruption campaign with undiminished intensity, targeting officials at all levels while also accelerating efforts to repatriate fugitives and recover misappropriated funds.

Official data shows that in the first three quarters of this year, disciplinary authorities nationwide filed over 789,000 cases and took action against more than 677,000 individuals.

“The current situation in the fight against corruption remains grave and complex, and the task of eliminating the conditions and breeding ground for corruption is still arduous,” said Song Wei, an expert from a clean government research institute in Beijing. He emphasized that authorities must maintain their strategic resolve and press ahead without pause or retreat.

Since the beginning of the year, China’s “Sky Net” campaign—an operation aimed at apprehending fugitives, recovering misappropriated assets, and combating cross-border corruption—has also gained significant momentum. In July, Zhou Jinghua, one of China’s “100 most-wanted” corruption suspects subject to an Interpol Red Notice at China’s request, was extradited from Thailand, becoming the 63rd fugitive apprehended under this campaign.

In 2025, the National Commission of Supervision launched a first-of-its-kind special operation to recover overseas proceeds from duty-related crimes, vowing to pursue all illicit assets and deny corrupt officials and their relatives any opportunity to enjoy ill-gotten gains abroad.

“In recent years, efforts to track down fugitives and recover stolen assets have gradually expanded from primarily relying on persuasion to a broader range of measures, including capture, repatriation, and extradition,” said Zhang Lei, a professor at the Law School of Beijing Normal University.

Zhang stressed the equal importance of recovering fugitives, implementing measures to prevent their escape to other countries, and tightening controls on officials deemed at risk of fleeing.

In 2025, disciplinary authorities have also intensified efforts to improve work practices and enforce discipline. This includes tackling pointless formalities, bureaucratism, hedonism, and extravagance, while strictly implementing the Central Committee’s eight-point decision on improving conduct.

Official statistics indicate that in the first 11 months of 2025, a total of 251,516 cases involving violations of the eight-point rules were investigated nationwide, resulting in disciplinary or administrative punishment for 225,347 officials.

Categorized by type, over 40% of the cases—the largest share—involved officials failing to fulfill their duties. This includes negligence, inaction, mismanagement, and false reporting in areas affecting economic development, social progress, and environmental protection.

“Efforts to improve conduct have produced visible changes and tangible results,” said Ni Mingsheng, a professor at the Party School of the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.

He noted that as the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) draws to a close and preparations begin for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), it is increasingly important to maintain momentum in improving work conduct and to deepen the integrated investigation of misconduct and corruption.

In 2025, the fifth and sixth rounds of inspections under the 20th CPC Central Committee were successively carried out, achieving full inspection coverage of all provincial-level regions.

“The full coverage of all provincial-level regions by the 20th CPC Central Committee’s inspections marks an important step in institutionalizing and normalizing inspection-based oversight,” said Zhang Zhen, dean of the School of Discipline Inspection and Supervision at Southwest University of Political Science and Law.

This year’s anti-corruption efforts reflect China’s sustained commitment to its long-term fight against corruption, pursued with equal determination both domestically and internationally.