Government and Policy

New officials must declare assets

By Yan Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-07 08:40
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Yinchuan improves promotion system in anti-corruption fight

A number of officials slated for promotion near the Spring Festival will become the first government group to report on their financial assets as part of new anti-corruption efforts in Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

The anti-corruption measure, which took effect on Jan 1, stipulates that Yinchuan officials to be promoted to county-level status should reveal family assets, including debts, to their department.

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Fu Jing, an official with the city's discipline inspection department, said the officials are due for promotion in mid-February and will be required to reveal their financial status before taking on their new roles, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

Under the regulation, officials who are found concealing their true financial status will be counseled and deprived of future promotions. The outcomes could be harsher if the official is suspected of corruption, Fu told the newspaper.

The Yinchuan officials will be required to reveal details about their personal wealth and that owned by their spouse and married children. They will also have to reveal details about their commercial and residential properties, private cars, family savings, and income from rent, property sales, securities, investments, gifts, heritage and other incidental income.

The regulation asks officials to list liabilities exceeding 20,000 yuan ($2,930) each to anyone directly or indirectly related with their official post.

However, the regulation does not apply to Yinchuan's incumbent officials, who are only subject to a year-end review of personal information such as any changes to marital status, overseas trips and property purchases.

Fu told the newspaper that information contained in these asset reports would only be seen within the department, where it will be published on the intranet and on an internal billboard.

It follows similar measures in four other cities or regions as part of efforts to stamp out corruption by improving oversight of the promotion system.

In February last year, the Altay prefecture, a region in China's northwestern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, published reports filed by more than 1,000 local officials about their family's assets.

Cixi in East China's Zhejiang province, and Liuyang and Xiangxiang in Central China's Hunan province have also followed suit.