China’s anti-corruption efforts will not slow down, says Xi Jinping

Tuesday 12th of January 2016

President Xi Jinping says the Chinese government will not ease current anti-corruption efforts in 2016 to deter fresh cases from emerging, according to Xinhua.

During the sixth plenary session of the 18th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi said the campaign against corruption will continue to cover all sectors and zero tolerance will be given to violators. "The Communist Party central leadership’s firm determination to fight corruption has not changed; the goal of preventing corruption from spreading has not changed," Xi was quoted as saying by Xinhua”. Xi stressed the importance of respecting the Party Constitution and its rules and regulations.

In addition, Xi vowed to intensify efforts in bringing back fugitive officials who are suspected of corruption.

Some analysts have raised concerns that the crackdown is contributing to already low investment growth in China over the last year, as certain officials are afraid to approve projects for fear of corruption accusations.

In 2015, analysts at Bernstein predicted that once the impact from China’s anti-corruption drive and economic effects were absorbed by Macau’s gaming industry, the VIP segment will resume growth, but at a much more moderate pace.

This would, however be highly dependent on a moderation of anti-corruption sentiment in China, and should the sentiment intensify, “we think the VIP segment could be further negatively impacted and a VIP stabilization and potential recovery would take longer to materialize.”. “As such, VIP will be more highly sensitive to China government policy and macroeconomic factors affecting wealthy individuals than it has been historically.”