Xi Jinping tightens reins on business ties of Chinese officials’ families in wake of Panama Papers
A test programme to limit the business activities of senior officials’ relatives will be expanded from Shanghai to four more major regions through the country
The Communist Party’s leadership is expanding a Shanghai pilot programme aimed at weeding out corruption via the families of senior officials.
The programme, which defines and regulates the business activities of officials’ relatives, has been up and running in Shanghai since the middle of last year and on Monday a central task force headed by President Xi Jinping decided to expand the experiment to cover four other provincial-level regions: Guangdong, Xinjiang, Beijing and Chongqing.
The expansion of the programme also comes after the Panama Papers revealed that, among other countries’ prominent figures, family members of eight serving or retired Chinese leaders were involved in using offshore companies for business.
The decision to expand the programme was taken at a meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms, chaired by Xi.
Shanghai moves to rein in businesses of officials’ families
State media said earlier that the Shanghai scheme was a pilot for national regulations as part of Xi’s wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign.