Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to make further efforts in the fight against corruption, saying the crackdown is still insufficient.

He made the remarks during his speech at a three-day plenary session of the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection that opened on Monday. The commission is in charge of cracking down on corruption among party officials.

Xi noted that "the situation remains grave and complex." He urged commission members to never look back on the past achievements and let their guard down.

He also said Beijing should firmly clamp down on acts that rely on power to gain profit and prevent various interest groups from infiltrating the political arena.

He stressed his continued efforts to expand the fight against corruption in various fields, including finance, energy and healthcare.

Beijing's anti-corruption drive is said to have helped Xi consolidate his power base. The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that authorities had handled more than 1.28 million cases of corruption as of October last year.

Observers are watching to see whether the commission will bring up matters concerning former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who were ousted from their posts. Some foreign media outlets reported on a corruption scandal involving Li.