Leadership and governance: Effective anticorruption in Mainland China

While the 1980's economic reform enabled China to enjoy political stability, increased governance competence, high economic growth, and growing international influence, it also incurred serious corruptions throughout the country. To safeguard economic successes, consolidate the "socialist economic development with Chinese characteristics," and build "a harmonious socialist society" to maintain stability, the Chinese government recently implemented nationwide anticorruption mechanisms, sweeping all levels of the government with remarkable effects. Thousands of corrupt party cadres and government officials were investigated, indicted and sentenced, which, has drawn spectacular international attention. By exploring and assessing China's anticorruption mechanisms' impacts, this paper examines the characteristics of Chinese government leadership, governance effectiveness, and policy implementation while leading state development. It reveals that the Chinese leadership's collective and pragmatic decision making and consensus building since the economic reform have been the key factors affecting the leadership quality, governance effectiveness, and policy execution. It concludes that continuous improvement of the government leadership and governance effectiveness depends on China's further push for political, economic, and social development and transformation toward a sound democratic polity and for vigorous and consistent anticorruption mechanisms to eradicate the deep-rooted corruption problems. Though China's emerging leadership and governance practice under authoritarian rule, along with its efficacies, may have to go through constant examination and testimony, they have certainly provided useful references for the leadership and governance of pertinent polities in the twenty-first century.