Beijing ( CNN ) -- President Hu Jintao has said what so many others have been thinking : the Chinese Communist Party is under threat . In front of more than 2,000 delegates at the opening of the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing , Hu made plain there is a cancer at the heart of the system and it is called corruption . `` Combating corruption and promoting political integrity is a major political issue . If we fail to handle it , it could prove fatal to the party and even cause the collapse of the party and the fall of the state , '' he said . It would be tempting to dismiss this as empty rhetoric , an attempt to placate an increasingly anxious and angry population . But this is n't just about words . Chinese politics has been battered this year ; a year of scandal , embarrassing revelations about the riches of party leaders , a slowing economy and a perilously widening wealth gap . With one former leader , Bo Xilai , purged from the party and awaiting trial , Hu was putting others on notice . `` All those who violate party discipline and state laws , whoever they are and whatever power or official positions they have , must be brought to justice without mercy , '' he warned . This is the last time Hu will address the Congress as party chief . Xi Jinping is preparing to be appointed General Secretary at the end of the meeting next week , and next year will be installed as state president . Hu ends his ten years at the helm of a country that has risen to be the second biggest economy in the world -- closing fast on the United States . Yet , the nation is far from Hu 's much vaunted `` harmonious society . '' The economy is overdue for reform , the old model of high investment , mass exports and cheap labor is looking tapped out . The party is trying to shift gears to be more domestic consumption-orientated , but economists say that is going to require significant investment in the social safety net to turn a nation of nervous savers into spenders . Social unrest is on the rise with people , especially in rural areas , protesting against everything from environmental pollution to the rule of law and land seizures . Ethnic groups continue to complain of victimization . Just this week there have been more reports of Tibetans setting themselves alight as part of a campaign for political and religious freedom . Human rights groups say dissidents -- particularly lawyers , writers and artists -- are languishing in prison or under house arrest . Some China watchers say Hu 's warnings about the fall of the party are meaningless , rather it his leadership that should be blamed . `` These are only empty words which sound good . In these ten years , China is nothing close to harmonious but the conflicts and contradictions have become worse . In fact , it is reaching a crisis moment , '' said Zhang Min , from China 's Renmin University . It will fall to Xi to save the party from itself . But this is a man who remains a mystery to many China watchers , though someone who has risen through the ranks being careful to keep his views to himself . On a trip to Mexico in 2009 , he lifted the veil just a little . Speaking to Chinese workers , he revealed a leader who may be more inclined to look for blame outside China than to criticize his own . `` There are some bored foreigners with full stomachs who have nothing better to do than point fingers at China , '' he said at the time . As Hu ponders the party 's demise , historian Zhang Lifun says Xi above all else will be dedicated to its survival . He 's a son of the party , labeled as a `` princeling '' because his father was a revolutionary hero . `` He is part of a consensus to keep the Communist party as the only ruling party . Any so-called liberty must only be on the condition of the survival of a one-party dictatorship , '' he said . Xi 's very future depends on it .
Outgoing President Hu Jintao warned against corruption in China . He was speaking at the start of the 18th Communist Party Congress . China has been beset by political scandals , corruption claims and slowing economy . But critics argue Hu himself is to blame for many of China 's problems .