Xi urges young officials to stay clean, incorrupt

Power should be exercised fairly, in accordance with the law, he tells study session at Party School

President Xi Jinping has once again set out high expectations for the nation's young officials, calling upon them to firm up their ideals, stay away from corruption and moral decline and build up their capabilities in the nation's new era and new journey.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, delivered a strong appeal for young officials to align their ideals with the endeavor of the Party and the people in a speech on Tuesday at the opening of a study session at the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC.

It was the sixth time that he attended the opening ceremony of the biannual session targeting young and middle-aged officials of the Party since March 2019. The Party School, the higher-education institution that specifically trains officials for the CPC, hosts the four-month session both in spring and autumn each year.

The sessions began after the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee－the Party's core leadership－reviewed a policy document to beef up the training and selection of high-caliber young officials in June 2018.

Xi reiterated on Tuesday the significance of adhering to Marxism and upholding communist ideals and the ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics for young officials to take over from their predecessors.

Ideals and beliefs are the foundation for the CPC to build itself on and to flourish, and they are also the cornerstone for Party officials, Xi said.

He called on young officials to always bear in mind that staying clean and incorruptible is a blessing, and greed can lead to misfortunes, adding that the most important factor in guarding against corruption and moral decline is to strengthen their moral defenses and to start from small matters.