Anti-corruption campaign will boost economy

The anti-corruption drive launched by the top leader Xi Jinping and top graft-buster Wang Qishan since the 18th CPC National Congress has produced powerful shockwaves that have spread throughout the Chinese political system and society. It has also been associated with the serious economic slowdown, as the country's GDP is decelerating quickly from its breakneck growth of recent years.

This has led some people to believe that the anti-corruption campaign must have put the brakes on economic growth. Simon Denyer, The Washington Post's bureau chief in China, is one of them. In a recent article querying whether the Chinese economic system can function without corruption, he wrote "as China moves into the third year of its far-reaching anti-corruption campaign, experts and officials are worrying that without the grease of bribes, projects are stagnating and the economy is taking a hit".

Denyer suggests that the anti-corruption campaign has led some officials to take a wait-and-see attitude, reluctant to take any action that may promote economic growth because they are afraid of making any mistake and being prosecuted as a result of any possible "wrongdoing".