The new head of the ICAC said yesterday the anti-graft body would step up co-operation with its mainland counterparts to fight corruption following China's entry into the World Trade Organisation.
Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong, the new Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, said China's WTO membership would lead to an increase in exchanges between Hong Kong and mainland.
He said there was a need to step up the ICAC campaign to educate businessmen about the importance of working in a clean way. It would also look at ways of improving liaison with its mainland counterparts.
Mr Lee said worries that the mainland's corruption problems would spill over to Hong Kong and that ICAC would lose its independence after the handover had proved to be untrue.
'We're in year 2002, people can see that the ICAC is functioning very, very effectively and Hong Kong still remains a clean society. We still have a very clean civil service.'
He said the mainland government had also shown a great determination to wipe out corruption. He said he would continue to uphold the principle of independence and enforce the law without fear or bias towards anyone, including his former colleagues at the Immigration Department or other disciplinary forces.
