Thursday 25 February 2010

China’s Communists issue ethics code

China’s ruling Communist Party has issued an ethics code to curb the widespread corruption that its leaders see as one of the biggest threats to its long-term survival, state media reported Wednesday.

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China’s Communists issue ethics code

AFP
24 February 2010

BEIJING (AFP) - – China’s ruling Communist Party has issued an ethics code to curb the widespread corruption that its leaders see as one of the biggest threats to its long-term survival, state media reported Wednesday.

The guidelines spell out 52 banned practices for officials, including accepting cash or other financial rewards as gifts and using their influence to benefit family, friends or associates, the China Daily reported.

Party officials are also barred from involvement in for-profit activities and from using public funds for personal interests.

“The code is significant for ensuring clean governance... and advancing the fight against corruption and building a clean government,” the party’s central committee said, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The party warned officials who violated the rules would be severely disciplined and could face criminal prosecution.

China’s President Hu Jintao has for years made fighting official corruption a priority, saying the scourge threatens to undermine the party’s legitimacy.

The party’s efforts to squelch internal graft have come amid public anger over regular reports of larcenous officials and stories of excess and debauchery among top officials.

Under the new code, officials are banned from spending inappropriately large amounts of government money on vehicles, receptions, new office buildings, expensive recreational activities and overseas travel.

The new rules update an ethics code introduced in 1997 on a trial basis “as the party’s fight against corruption (is) being intensified in the new era,” the party said.

The central committee said the party should step up supervision at various levels and that education on stamping out corruption and upholding integrity should be part of officials’ training.

The National Bureau of Corruption Prevention and the Ministry of Supervision have made it a priority to better monitor the expenses of “naked officials,” whose family members have moved overseas, the China Daily said.

About 4,000 corrupt officials fled the country with 50 billion dollars between 1978 and 2003 after first sending their spouses and children abroad, the report said.