China Tightens Oversight of Officials Whose Spouse,Children Emigrate Overseas

China has issued two new tough anti-corruption regulations for party or government officials whose spouses or children emigrate overseas. As Zhao Yang tells us, anti-corruption researchers say it is a quiet key measure to make officials more self-disciplined by making them more transparent.

New regulation says family members of officials will be subject to strict examination when applying for private passports and going abroad.

Officials will also be required to submit written accounts of all income and property owned by their spouse or children living overseas.

Earlier this month, another regulation requires officials to report changes in their marital status, personal incomes, the business dealings of spouses and children, and other family details.

Lin Zhe, anti-corruption researcher with the Party School of the Communist Party of China, says it reflects the increasing pressure on corrupt officials.

"Tougher regulations help the country dig out more corrupt officials who were less likely to be found before. Hiding income under the names of other people is a new tricky way used by corrupt officials to avoid corruption prosecution."

Major scandals in China have erupted in recent years involving corrupt officials fleeing abroad with family members and also unearned wealth to avoid prosecution under Chinese law.

A group of official numbers which are often quoted by Chinese media show right now there are some 4-thousand suspected corrupt officials holding more than 5 billion yuan or about 750 million US dollars, though the actual number could be much higher.

Here is Lin Zhe with the CPC party school again.

"It is the highest regulation on this kind of corruption so far. It is a precaution mechanism to prevent those corrupt officials from running away."

It is the latest effort of Chinese government to place official's actions in the public view.

The Chinese government and the Communist Party of China began to implement the monitoring system in 1995 and have enlarged the reporting list and checking procedures since then.

For CRI, I'm Zhao Yang.