The General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has issued a guideline on tightening supervision and management of Party officials, noting that officials unfit for their current positions should be reshuffled.

The measures were "aimed at addressing the current problem that the supervision and management of Party officials is lax and soft-handed," according to a statement of the General Office published Friday.

The guideline stated that officials whose capabilities do not fit their current posts, who lack the sense of responsibilities or are incompetent for their jobs, should be transferred to proper posts or demoted.

Those breaching duties should be "severely punished" and those who are "sick" (morally corrupt or deficient in capabilities) should be prohibited from promotion, said the document.

Superior departments should step up discipline education on officials and nip their out-of-line tendencies in the bud through exhortative conversations, letters or tentative punishments, said the document.