The warning from the CPC's Political Bureau came a day after the top Party official in the booming eastern province of Shandong was dismissed for misconduct. That action followed earlier high-profile firings of Party bosses in Shanghai and Beijing.

Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and China's President, presided over a Politburo meeting yesterday in Beijing that pledged to continue "the major task" of fighting corruption and achieving clean governance, according to a statement from the CPC.

At the session, participants heard a report on the work of the CPC Central Committee for Discipline Inspection this year and studied anti-corruption work to be conducted in 2007.

The Politburo urged the entire Party to remain unified in thinking and to acquire a deep understanding of the long-term, complicated and difficult nature of the efforts to bring about clean governance and fight corruption.

The anti-corruption campaign should be integrated into the country's economic, political and cultural drives and the building of the Party, the Politburo said.

The latest high-level case involved Shangdong Party official Du Shicheng, who was put under investigation on Sunday for "violating Party discipline." Du's sacking was part of the state's larger fight against corruption, authorities said.

Du also lost his post as Party secretary of Shandong's main business center, Qingdao, the site of yachting events for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.