A senior Chinese official has called for strengthening Party and government discipline at the county level, so as to consolidate the base for fighting corruption and provide an organizational guarantee for the anti-corruption drive at the grassroots level.

This was remarked by He Guoqiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, at Tuesday's televised conference on the issue, which was jointly held by five central Party and government departments.

County level discipline departments have played an active role in the anti-corruption campaign, while they are facing difficulties and problems in personnel development, finance and equipment, said He, who also heads the CPC's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

He urged all discipline officials to be highly consistent with the Party Central Committee with Hu Jintao as the general secretary and become "Loyal Guardian for the Party and Close Friend of the Masses."

The quality of the country's discipline officials must be improved as a whole through practicing and training, said the official. The authorities will provide discipline officials with better office equipment and other necessary materials, he noted.

The meeting was presided by He Yong, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the CCDI.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2009)