China’s Communist Party Tightens Oversight of Officials

China’s Communist Party has adopted a resolution tightening internal discipline, calling for career-long monitoring of officials and closer checks on family wealth and business activities. The document also urges party members to demonstrate loyalty to President Xi Jinping and align with senior leadership in thought, politics and action. Released on November 1 after a leadership gathering, the Central Committee resolution says officials’ family assets or spending that appear inconsistent with legitimate income should be examined and verified. It calls for routine scrutiny of the business activities of officials’ relatives, including spouses and children. The resolution identifies proxy shareholdings, cryptocurrencies, blockchain and cross-border funds as channels that anticorruption efforts should address when used to facilitate corruption. It also calls for tighter oversight of officials’ personal disclosures and says promotion decisions should take account of party spirit, assessed through officials’ work, conduct, remarks, social contacts and family values. The document presents loyalty to Xi as a central requirement, urging party members to safeguard his position as the...