Chinese President Xi Jinping zeroed in on the government's fight against graft and corruption in his speech to commemorate the 95th anniversary of China's Communist Party on Friday.

Despite relative success in the anti-corruption campaign, which was initiated after President Xi assumed power four years ago, the Chinese leader and his top corruption watchdog, Wang Qishan, admitted there is more to be done to cleanse the party of graft.

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Political observers have warned that the legitimacy of China's top party may rely heavily on the success of the anti-corruption drive.

Xi's anti-graft campaign has netted both low- and high-ranking officials over the past years. Many corrupt officials have also fled abroad to escape the arms of the law.

Legitimacy

"The party has reached a point where its legitimacy and more importantly, its very existence are at stake," said Wang Yukai, a professor from the Chinese Academy of Governance, according to the South China Morning Post.

Wang and university professor Zhu Lijia noted that the party has been struggling in recent years due to the complexity of the current domestic and global environments.

Zhu said China and the world have changed a lot since Xi was catapulted into the presidency.

Risks

He warned that several factors pose great risks to the Communist Party's rule such as the efforts of the Xi administration to rein in corruption as well as its ability to resolve China's slowing economic growth.

"That's why the party has rolled out one education campaign after another in a bid to seek unity among the more than 87 million party members and rally public support," Zhu said.

Political analyst Zhang Lifan said Xi's speech was aimed at justifying the one-party rule and touting his achievements in a bid to hold power in the party, which is set to conduct a leadership reshuffle next year.

"Xi may want to use the propaganda machine as well as his speech to disseminate his messages to the Chinese public that the party under his rule is capable of meeting all sorts of challenges both at home and abroad," Zhang said.

TagsCommunist Party of China, President Xi Jinping, anti=corruption drive, corruption watchdog Wang Qishan, china