Dishonesty at home in mainland building sector
Illegal practices are still rife in the mainland construction sector, which is known for its corruption, poor safety and low standards, the Ministry of Supervision said.
In the first 11 months of last year, 22,243 people were investigated in 18,273 cases of corruption in construction projects, including 16,472 cases of bribery, the ministry said. Over this period, 15,109 officials were disciplined by the Communist Party and 7,891 people were tried by the courts.
The ministry said that in the first nine months, police uncovered 184 cases of collusion in tendering for construction projects, 28.7 per cent more than the previous year, and solved 120 cases.
The Ministry of Transport last year investigated 4,705 transport infrastructure construction projects. It discovered 4,868 problems including safety and quality issues, and fixed 86 per cent of these problems. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development revoked the licences of 1,469 construction firms because of safety and quality problems in housing construction projects, and suspended the licenses of 22 companies.
Safety problems were a serious issue in the nation's construction sector, said Housing and Urban-Rural Development vice-minister Guo Yunzhong. Serious incidents still occurred and in some mainland cities, metro rail services suffered frequent accidents, Guo said.
Hidden problems in safety and quality, and other illegal practices plagued construction projects, he said. Gas pipe leaks in some cities and the collapse of rural houses continued to occur, Guo said.
For example, a local government in Pingdingshan city, Henan province, admitted that some local officials had illegally granted land or awarded projects that should have been tendered to selected parties.
Some local officials exerted pressure to ensure project tenders went to favoured parties. 'Some communist officials treat the rights of the Chinese Communist Party and the people entrusted to them as a means to satisfy their selfish desires, illegally interfering in construction projects and gaining personal benefits from acting as protective umbrellas for unauthorised businessmen,' the local government group said.
In one instance, a local construction official illegally helped a developer get land approval, resulting in the loss of 1.7 million yuan (HK$2.1 million) worth of state land.
China ranked second lowest among 28 countries in a report from Transparency International last year on how often companies pay bribes in a particular nation.
19%
The year-on-year increase in the number of mainland officials that were caught embezzling more than US$1 million in 2009
