Tough anti-graft code aimed at top officials
BEIJING has brought in a strict anti-graft code of behaviour for ministerial and provincial cadres to strengthen its drive against corruption.
Central Commission for Discipline inspection secretary Wei Jianxing said in addition to the existing guidelines, central authorities had decided the cadres must observe three rules.
'They must set themselves as examples in implementing the Central Committee's anti-corruption policies; they must be responsible for possible corruption loopholes in the areas or departments under their charge and they must prevent their spouses or children or colleagues from being involved in corrupt practices,' Mr Wei said.
He was addressing the commission's sixth plenum, which opened yesterday in Beijing.
Cadres had to take the initiative and lead others to observe and protect the party's political discipline, said the Politburo member, who is also a Beijing party boss.
He said extra measures would be taken to strengthen the party's supervisory mechanism.
One of the measures would involve the discipline commission sending ministerial-level officials to provinces, autonomous regions and big cities to check on how central policies and anti-corruption rules were being observed.
The inspection officials would have to report directly to the commission headquarters and the Central Committee.
'The promotion of major officials of localities and departments must be agreed by the party disciplinary bodies at the same level,' Mr Wei said.
Though Beijing had put much emphasis on its crackdown last year, Mr Wei said, China 'still faces a harsh situation and extremely difficult tasks' in the anti-corruption drive this year.
'Corrupt practices are increasing in some cases. Economic cases and cases of negligence and dereliction of duty are rapidly increasing,' he said.
Some judicial bodies were lax in cracking down on leading corruption cases, and malpractice in government departments had reappeared after efforts to stamp it out, he said.
Former Beijing party chief Chen Xitong was dismissed from all party and government posts, and vice-mayor Wang Baosen committed suicide last year for fear of prosecution.
Official statistics show that in the first 11 months of last year, the country's discipline departments received 204,737 reports of corruption involving officials at and above the county level, an increase of 5.1 per cent over the same period in 1994.
