University students can major in anti-corruption programmes

China has for the first time offered academic programmes on anti-corruption and discipline to train talent for the long-term deployment of President Xi Jinping’s signature campaign, writes Salina Li for the South China Morning Post.

In August, the Ministry of Education announced that 16 universities in China would establish majors in discipline inspection and supervision for undergraduate studies. The subject has also been added to the latest edition of the graduate education subject catalogue. Tan Zongze, the dean of the school of discipline inspection and supervision of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, said in an article in the school’s newspaper that graduates with such majors would get a law degree and work for the national agencies for discipline inspection.

China’s anti-corruption system saw a major overhaul after the Chinese Communist Party’s 18th National Congress in 2012 when Xi came to power. The National Supervisory Commission is an overarching government anti-corruption ‘superagency’ that oversees both party members and civil servants. It was established in 2018 as part of efforts to tie the governance system closer to the party.
Full report on the South China Morning Post site