Xi's anti-corruption drive accelerates after more than a decade in power

President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign, launched when he came to power in 2012, has not only persisted but intensified more than a decade later, defying early predictions that it would be a short-lived symbolic gesture. According to a major data project published by the South China Morning Post, the signature initiative is now accelerating rather than winding down, marking a significant shift in how observers understand its purpose and scope.

The newspaper's analysis reveals that the campaign has evolved far beyond a temporary crackdown into a permanent mechanism for enforcing Communist Party discipline and shaping economic policy. Initially, many officials and observers expected the drive to be what the report describes as "a gust of wind," a brief, symbolic effort rather than a sustained institutional transformation. Instead, the data shows the anti-graft push gaining momentum even after millions of officials across all levels of government and state enterprises have been investigated since 2012.

The expanding reach of Xi's anti-corruption framework is now moving beyond China's borders. The country's top legislature has begun reviewing a draft law designed to combat cross-border corruption, marking the first reading of legislation that would extend Beijing's anti-graft legal framework internationally. This move signals authorities' intention to pursue corruption cases involving Chinese officials or state-linked individuals operating abroad.

The South China Morning Post's multi-part series examines both the numerical scale of the campaign and the political dynamics sustaining its continuation. The data project arrives at a moment when the anti-corruption apparatus shows no signs of retreat, underscoring its role as a key tool in Xi's governance strategy that reaches into both party discipline and economic direction.