Xi has been urging officials in recent years to “get used to living frugally” as part of a government belt-tightening campaign. He has ramped up a crackdown on petty corruption, which has targeted opulence, bribery and other misconduct by low-level bureaucrats that affect ordinary citizens. The crackdown has driven disciplinary cases to record levels. The party punished nearly 313,000 people in 2024 for breaching the “eight-point regulations,” a directive against frivolous and wasteful conduct that Xi enacted shortly after taking power in 2012. This was more than double the 2023 figure and 10 times the total in 2013, the first full year of Xi’s leadership, according to CCDI data.
Yes, I can't see that as a bad thing. Imagine the Western public's perception, if any liberal party did that, despite still funneling money to the top.