Shanghai moves to rein in businesses of officials' families
Rules on relatives could be applied nationwide but critics say the moves don't go far enough
Shanghai is rolling out pilot measures to limit the business activities of senior officials' families, a move that could be expanded nationwide.
If it succeeds, the effort could be a milestone in the mainland's ongoing battle against graft and ease growing public discontent over the rewards reaped by the children and spouses of powerful officials.
But some critics say the restrictions aren't tough enough. The move comes after President Xi Jinping told Shanghai administrators in March to introduce measures to regulate the business activities of senior officials' relatives.
Regulations banning officials and spouses from doing business had been in place since 1985 but the Shanghai measures were more practical to implement, Ying Yong, the city's Communist Party deputy secretary, told People's Daily.
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The measures were progressive, getting tighter the higher the official's rank and the greater his concentration of power over public administration, Ying said.