BEIJING (Reuters) - The top echelons of China’s ruling Communist Party must lead the fight against corruption by accepting supervision for all they do, state media on Tuesday quoted President Xi Jinping as saying.

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks to Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba (not pictured) during a meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China December 7, 2016. REUTERS/Fred Dufour/Pool

Since assuming office four years ago, Xi has waged war on deep-seated graft, warning like others before him that the problem is so bad it could affect the party’s grip on power.

Dozens of senior people have been jailed, including Zhou Yongkang, who was once China’s powerful domestic security chief, given a life sentence for corruption last year.

Speaking at a meeting of the Politburo, the core of the ruling party, Xi said its members must set an example in lawful governance efforts and use of power, state television said on its main evening news.

“The higher the leadership position, the more important the post, the more they must candidly accept supervision. There are no forbidden areas in intra-party supervision, and no exceptions,” state television said of the meeting chaired by Xi.

The strengthening of this supervision must start with members of the Politburo, and the Central Committee, it added, referring the largest of the party’s ruling elite bodies.

Politburo and Central Committee members are beacons for the rest of the party to see when it comes to supervision, the report added.

Top officials should also “educate and manage” family members and those who work with them, it added.

Close relatives, especially wives and children, have been implicated in many recent corruption scandals.

China does not have an independent anti-corruption body and insists the party and the government can police themselves, something some experts and Chinese activists say is not possible if the country really wants to tackle graft.

The drive for a corruption-free party, often referred to in official documents as “intra-party supervision”, was the focus of a four-day meeting of senior party officials in Beijing in October, which concluded by anointing Xi as “core” leader of the party.