Senior Chinese leaders met in Beijing Tuesday to discuss China's anti-corruption drive in 2009, and to plan next year's battle against graft.

The meeting, attended by members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, heard a report by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

Although obvious achievements had been made in the anti-corruption drive this year, the situation was still grim with many new problems, said a statement issued after the meeting presided over by Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

"Members of the CPC should realize that the campaign against corruption will be long-term, complex and hard," read the statement, which called for greater and constant efforts to build a clean government.

The statement said Party committees, government departments and discipline inspection authorities should combine punishment and prevention, with emphasis on the latter.

They should resolutely investigate and deal with corruption and severely punish those involved, and should devise new ways to improve education and supervision and reform the system to prevent graft more effectively.

"Clean conduct of CPC cadres is key to strengthening of the Party's governance capability, ...and should be promoted by strengthened education and an improved anti-graft system, by self-discipline together with supervision by others," the statement said.

The CCDI would convene a plenary session in January, the statement said.