aimarraul
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2008
- Messages
- 2,778
- Reaction score
- 0
Minister: China officials must report assets
10:49, March 12, 2010
China's civil servants, including rank-and-file officials, will be requested to disclose their assets, and information concerning their family members, in a beefed-up effort of the government to combat corruption.
Minister of Supervision Ma Wen, a cabinet member, told reporters in Beijing on the sidelines of parliamentary sessions that a Communist Party Central Committee guideline will come into force, that requires all officials in the country to report detailed information about income, property owned and investments, and jobs held by their spouses and children.
However, critics still complain that the list is "not exhaustive" and there is no effective way to ensure such a (reporting) system is well implemented, and some are seeking legislation making it mandatory for officials to declare assets, the China Daily reported on Friday.
"The task this year is to implement and improve the new system," Ma, who is also deputy secretary of the Central Commission of Discipline Inspection, the country's top anti-graft watchdog, told the newspaper.
"It (the guideline) may fail to meet public expectations, but we will do it (the fight against corruption) step by step," Ma said.
Ma also indicated that measures to ensure tighter supervision of officials whose children or spouses are abroad will be announced "very soon".
Meanwhile, Mr. Li Fei, a deputy chairman of the NPC Standing Committee's legislative affairs commission, brushed aside demands for a timetable on a law requiring officials to declare fortunes.
Li said on Wednesday that the legislative process "should proceed only after conditions are ripe".
More than 90 countries require senior officials to disclose their assets. In Russia, senior officials including President Dmitry Medvedev declared their family assets last year, the China Daily said.
China has been trying to take similar measures since the 1990s. In 1995, the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council jointly released a regulation requiring officials above the county-level to report income.
Liu Xirong, former secretary of the Central Commission of Discipline Inspection, said evaluating officials is difficult if their assets are not disclosed to the public. "It would be difficult to assess whether they have abused power without accurate knowledge of their finances."
Some local governments have pioneered.
In December, the local legislation in southwestern Chongqing City passed a regulation asking senior officials in the municipal court and the prosecutor's office to report assets.
The information will be made public and those who submitted false declarations are liable to be sacked, according to local newspaper reports.
People's Daily Online
10:49, March 12, 2010
China's civil servants, including rank-and-file officials, will be requested to disclose their assets, and information concerning their family members, in a beefed-up effort of the government to combat corruption.
Minister of Supervision Ma Wen, a cabinet member, told reporters in Beijing on the sidelines of parliamentary sessions that a Communist Party Central Committee guideline will come into force, that requires all officials in the country to report detailed information about income, property owned and investments, and jobs held by their spouses and children.
However, critics still complain that the list is "not exhaustive" and there is no effective way to ensure such a (reporting) system is well implemented, and some are seeking legislation making it mandatory for officials to declare assets, the China Daily reported on Friday.
"The task this year is to implement and improve the new system," Ma, who is also deputy secretary of the Central Commission of Discipline Inspection, the country's top anti-graft watchdog, told the newspaper.
"It (the guideline) may fail to meet public expectations, but we will do it (the fight against corruption) step by step," Ma said.
Ma also indicated that measures to ensure tighter supervision of officials whose children or spouses are abroad will be announced "very soon".
Meanwhile, Mr. Li Fei, a deputy chairman of the NPC Standing Committee's legislative affairs commission, brushed aside demands for a timetable on a law requiring officials to declare fortunes.
Li said on Wednesday that the legislative process "should proceed only after conditions are ripe".
More than 90 countries require senior officials to disclose their assets. In Russia, senior officials including President Dmitry Medvedev declared their family assets last year, the China Daily said.
China has been trying to take similar measures since the 1990s. In 1995, the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council jointly released a regulation requiring officials above the county-level to report income.
Liu Xirong, former secretary of the Central Commission of Discipline Inspection, said evaluating officials is difficult if their assets are not disclosed to the public. "It would be difficult to assess whether they have abused power without accurate knowledge of their finances."
Some local governments have pioneered.
In December, the local legislation in southwestern Chongqing City passed a regulation asking senior officials in the municipal court and the prosecutor's office to report assets.
The information will be made public and those who submitted false declarations are liable to be sacked, according to local newspaper reports.
People's Daily Online
