The discipline inspection authorities of the Communist Party of China (CPC) have ordered strict adherence to the rules in the selection and appointment of local Party committee leaders.

A communique released Tuesday at the end of a three-day plenary session of the CPC's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said misconduct in the selection and appointment of local Party committee leaders, such as the buying and selling of posts, would be resolutely punished.

A new round of leadership selections and appointments for local Party committees at different levels are scheduled for this year.

The sixth plenary session of the 17th CCDI, which ended Tuesday,outlined anti-corruption and Party building work this year.

The session agreed that the whole Party must realize that the fight against corruption was a "long-haul, complicated and arduous" task.

More forceful measures must be taken to advance anti-corruption work, so as to guarantee the implementation of the 12th Five-Year Plan and the celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the CPC with new anti-corruption achievements, said the communique.

Discipline inspection departments would continue to address corruption issues in the construction sector and strictly punish officials who violated rules for project assessment and approval, cheat in the public tenders or illegally grant contracts, the document said.

Malpractice related to mining projects and land use would also be a priority, it said.

The discipline inspection departments would examine methods to stop governments holding excessive numbers of ceremonies, seminars and forums, it said.

They would also work to improve the efficiency of the use of official business cars, it said.

To regulate the behavior of senior officials, the CCDI pledged to firmly punish those who illegally accepted gifts and traveled abroad for private purposes at government expense.

More efforts would be made to improve the transparency of government work, especially at grassroots levels, the document said.

Officials who misused their power, colluded with criminals or stole public property would be punished, and endeavors to hold officials who harmed the interests of the people accountable would be intensified.

Figures from the CCDI show 146,517 officials across China were punished for disciplinary violations last year, including 5,098 leaders at the county head level or above and 804 officials who were referred for prosecution.

The commission pledged in the document to beef up education, supervision, reform and innovation in its anti-corruption system to prevent corruption effectively.

It vowed to exert stricter supervision of leading organs and officials and to make greater efforts to investigate cases concerning abuse of power, corruption and bribery, and dereliction of duty.

The commission would use the combined force of intra-Party and non-Party supervision, and supervision by special agencies and the public, as well as the media to ensure clean governance, it said.

The CCDI would also probe corruption behind mass incidents and serious incidents that lead to serious consequences, it said.

The Party would sternly deal with major corruption cases that greatly infringed on the public interest, especially in the fields such as land expropriation, housing demolition, food and drug safety, environmental protection, and work place safety, it said.

In the document, the CCDI urged inspection agencies to enhance supervision and monitoring of the implementation of major central government and Party policies and measures, such as macro economic controls, adjustment of the growth mode, reining in the property sector, and maintaining ethnic unity and social stability in Tibet and Xinjiang regions.

Wu Yuliang was elected as CCDI deputy secretary at the plenary session.