The Qianhai Special Zone in Shenzhen will try to benefit from Hong Kong's experience, requiring all top-level officials to declare their incomes and financial records. It will be one of the few places on the mainland to do so.
According to a draft law announced yesterday by the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress, all 11 members of the committee - two of whom are from Hong Kong, along with directors of the Qianhai Management Bureau, its senior management staff, ombudsman and assistant ombudsman - would be required to make their incomes public and declare any connections or interests that may relate to the decisions they make regarding policymaking and management.
Although several regions, including the Altay prefecture of Xinjiang, began requiring their 1,000 county-level cadres to declare their income from 2008, this would be the first law on the mainland that requires the declaration of income and interest. Qianhai will make history if the law is approved by the Shenzhen People's Congress next month in its second examination after this month's public consultation.
But the income and interest declaration will not apply to other Shenzhen cadres, as only Qianhai has been given that Hong Kong-style autonomy. The declaration system will apply only to Qianhai's management team, and Shenzhen's current laws and regulations will apply to Qianhai only if they are specifically legislated for that area.
Professor Tsao King-kwun of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who specialises in administrative and civil service reform in China, said if Qianhai officials were required to make public personal income and interests, it would be different from a property declaration.
'[It] doesn't require officials to declare their property and other assets ... According to the draft, Qian officials may need to make public only their income. The draft doesn't define income and whether it includes investment income,' Tsao said in The Southern Metropolis News.