China's Xi: Graft could wreck Communist Party

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Lintao Zhang / Getty ImagesXi Jinping, one of the members of new seven-seat Politburo Standing Committee, delivers a speech after being appointed the new Communist Party of China leader last week.By NBC News wire reportsBEIJING -- If corruption is allowed to run wild in China then the ruling Communist Party risks major unrest and the collapse of its rule, state media on Monday quoted Communist Party chief Xi Jinping as saying at one of his first major meetings since taking the role.

Follow @NBCNewsWorld In unusually blunt language, Vice President Xi, who assumes Hu Jintao's job as head of state in March, said that graft was like "worms breeding in decaying matter" -- an old Chinese phrase meaning "ruin befalls those who are weak."

"In recent years, some countries have stored up problems over time leading to seething public anger, civil unrest and government collapse -- corruption has been an important factor in all this," state newspapers quoted Xi as telling a study session for the Politburo, the party's second-highest decision-making body.

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