A new state department will be established to prevent
corruption, a top official from the central discipline inspection
commission revealed to the Beijing Times yesterday.
Xia Zanzhong, a Deputy Secretary with the Central Commission for
Discipline Inspection and member of National People's Congress,
informed the paper that the Office of Central Institutional
Organization Commission has approved the proposal to establish the
State Corruption Prevention Bureau.
While there are still no specific details on how and when the
bureau will begin operations, previously contested issues such as
its functions, divisions, and staff were resolved during the
yearlong examination and approval process, the paper
reports.
Gan Yisheng, also a Deputy Secretary, has said that to establish
this state bureau is to earnestly undertake the obligation set by
United Nations Convention Against Corruption, and to learn
from the international community about effective corruption
prevention techniques.
During the ongoing sessions of the NPC and CPPCC held in
Beijing, standing member of the CPPCC and vice minister of China's
Ministry of Supervision, Chen Changzhi told the press that the
corruption-prevention bureau will officially be established this
year.
The main functions of the bureau will be promoting
anti-corruption campaigns, educating people on corruption laws,
improving officials' ability to locate corruption, as well as
building, improving, and innovating the current system.
The State Corruption Prevention Bureau will be placed as a part
of Ministry of Supervision, but which specific central department
will lead and direct the bureau has not been decided yet. After its
establishment, local corruption-prevention departments will also be
formed gradually.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Ministry of
Supervision has also co-led the law-making research on a related
bill with some members of the NPC, Xia said. The highly anticipated
Law of Honest and Clean Government is still in the research phase,
with no set date for submission to the NPC, he added.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Rui March 13, 2007)