Guanxi–the cultivation, maintenance, and use of connections for economic gain–is a feature of all societies. The Chinese, however, take it to a completely different level. It is an integral part of their culture, which, of course, elevated the collective over the individual and celebrated bureaucracy long, long before 1949.
When you combine the widespread use of guanxi with a one-party system, a complete lack of government transparency, and politicized law enforcement and judicial systems, you have a recipe for corruption. It essentially means that wars on corruption, in the Chinese context, are nothing more than bureaucratic winners trampling on webs of hapless losers.
Keep that in mind the next time you read that Xi has uncovered evidence of corruption at the highest levels of Chinese government.