On Feb. 23, 2010, the CPC Central Committee issued a code of ethics for CPC cadres to prevent corruption from tainting the ranks of the Party.

The guidelines specified 52 "unacceptable practices" with respect to CPC leaders and cadres of various levels, including the acceptance of cash or other gifts and the use of influence to benefit Party members' spouses, children or "specially concerned persons".

State media created 52 illustrations to go with the practices in order to help government officials better understand and memorize them.

More than 146,500 officials, 5,098 of whom were above county-level, were punished for graft in 2010, according to statistics from the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the Party's anti-graft body.

The number of penalized Party members accounted for about 1.5 percent of all CPC members in China, according to the statistics. Most CPC members remain clean, said Gan Yisheng, an official with the CCDI.

On January 10, President Hu Jintao, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, pledged to combat graft and severely punish corrupt officials during a plenary session of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Ruling the country properly over a long period of time is one of the greatest challenges that the CPC has faced, according to Yan Shuhan, a professor with the Party School.

If the CPC wants to succeed in addressing this challenge, it needs majority support from the people, Yan said.

"A severe crackdown on corruption is the best way for the party to show its will and good faith," Yan said.