China is about to amend its constitution, aiming to fight corruption.

The Chinese Communist Party will meet in January 2018 to discuss constitutional amendments and the ongoing anti-corruption campaign.

The closing session of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, China, October 2017. Photo: Xinhua

The Communist Party of China will discuss one or more amendments to the constitution at its plenary session next month, Xinhua reported today, without giving a specific date.

The news agency did not disclose the contents of the amendments. However, Chinese legal experts said Beijing needs to adjust the constitution to be able to set up supervisory committees, ensuring a suitable basis to grant these committees powers.

China last amended its constitution in 2004, including provisions on the protection of private property and human rights.

The CPC Political Bureau also decided to hold a plenary meeting of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) from January 11 to 13, 2018.

Tackling corruption has been a key policy of Chinese President Xi Jinping since he took office. The fight against corruption will take on a new color with the establishment of the National Supervisory Commission, which will take over the CCDI and merge several anti-corruption units.

The merger also helps expand the scope of corruption investigations to civil servants in state agencies, instead of just CPC members. Mr. Xi has declared that the fight against corruption will not stop until officials at all levels do not dare, cannot and do not want to commit corruption.

Xi told CPC leaders in October that structural changes to the anti-corruption agency would include eliminating the controversial secret interrogation method known as “shuanggui” and introducing a new detention system. A draft of China’s new Supervision Law, released last week, adds protection for corruption suspects as part of efforts to reform the interrogation system.

According to VNE