BEIJING - Chinese officials and masses on Saturday expressed their strong support of the decisions to expel Zhou Yongkang from the Party and to investigate and arrest him.

The decisions have demonstrated the strong will of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to manage the Party strictly and to punish corruption, according to responses of officials and masses across the country.

The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Friday decided to expel Zhou Yongkang, a former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, from the CPC and transfer the details of his suspected crimes to judicial organs to be handled in accordance with the law.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) also decided to open an investigation into Zhou Yongkang's suspected crimes and to arrest him according to the law.

"It's a big victory in the anti-corruption drive," said Bai Nianbo, an official of the Party discipline inspection committee of Zibo City, east China's Shandong Province.

"I am shocked by Zhou's serious violations of Party discipline and his suspected crimes. We could see in the decisions the Party's resolve of strict management and the courage of scraping poison from bones," said Zhao Qifeng, a station manager of Huanxiling oil extraction plant, in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

"We fully support the wise decisions of the Party Central Committee,"said Yang Jianguo, Party secretary of Yuanzu Village in Huoshizhai Township, Xiji County, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. "The decisions make us more confident in the anti-corruption drive," he added.

EVERYONE IS EQUAL BEFORE LAW

Chinese officials and masses have also voiced that, as shown in the decisions, the Party sticks to the principle that everyone is equal before the law and nothing is off-limits in fighting corruption.

"There is no restricted area in fighting corruption, no privilege in obeying the law, and no exception in carrying out the discipline," said Huang Huiqiang, deputy secretary of the Party discipline inspection committee of northwest China's Xi'an City.

The decisions have sent a signal that strict management of the Party is not a slogan and punishment of corruption has no exception, Huang said.

"I have paid close attention to the case of Zhou," said Zhang Fuping, a business owner in southwest China's Chongqing. "We are convinced in the fall of the 'big tiger' that those damaging public interests will be punished by law, no matter how high his position is or how big his power is. We welcome the CPC Central Committee's anti-corruption efforts," Zhang added.

Yin Xiaohu, deputy director of the institute of law under Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that the decisions reflect the principle of equality before the law.

Zhou's case shows the anti-corruption drive has no off-limits and its impacts will be far-reaching, said Gao Bo, deputy secretary-general of the Clean Government Studies Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

SAFEGUARD PEOPLE'S FUNDAMENTAL INTERESTS

Chinese officials and masses said the decisions highlight that the CPC persists in the belief of safeguarding the people's fundamental interests.

The decisions are response to people's expectations and thus enjoy public support, said Qolu, a herdsman in Taipusi Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

"We hate officials abusing power for personal gains that damages the market environment," said Liu Hanlong, chairman of Jiangxi Chamber of Commerce in Chongqing City.

The resolute decisions of the CPC Central Committee have created a better legal environment for the development of the private sector, Liu added.

Wang Zechu, an advisor to the Guangdong Provincial Government, said that safeguarding people's fundamental interests requires to put the power under effective public supervision.

A commentary to be carried in Sunday's People's Daily notes that the people's positive feedbacks show that "the CPC's handling of Zhou's case has won the hearts of Party members and the masses, and it is an active response to people's expectations as well as a proclamation of governing the Party in a strict way."

Corruption is, in the final analysis, abuse of power, erosion of people's interests and blasphemy of the Party's mission to serve the people, the commentary says.

"The people are direct victims of corrupt practices, and they wholeheartedly support severe punishment of corruption. Representing the people's interests and accepting the people's supervision, the Party will show no tolerance to corruption, and will check and punish any violation of the law and disciplines."

Describing corruption as "posing the greatest harm to the Party," the commentary stresses that the fight against corruption cannot be won in a single battle, and the CPC will never cover up its own diseases, nor set a limit to its anti-graft goal.

"As a Party that has over 86 million members and governs a large country with a population of 1.3 billion for a long time, we have the abilities to manage the Party well and constantly purify, improve, reform and heighten ourselves," it adds.