Li Chengyan, the Party chief of the School of Government at Peking University, disclosed in an interview with China.org.cn on October 18 that China urgently needs to pass laws and regulations to rule out commercial bribery at its inception.

Li said that cases of commercial bribery in China have become so rampant that it would negatively affect political power if no regulations were passed to eradicate it.

The CPC Central Committee has currently enacted a germane policy that aims to clearly and definitely battle commercial bribery. Significant success has been witnessed since the two-year adoption of these preventive measures.

According to Li, commercial bribery is widely spread and deeply ingrained throughout China. Therefore, rooting out the problem cannot be the work of a single day, but rather it is a cause that requires a long-term commitment. Currently, the government is drawing up additional anti-commercial bribery regulations, Li said.

Many people think that commercial bribery is an inevitable social phenomenon; they even condone commercial bribery as reasonable and non-criminal. Li said that enacting appropriate laws and regulations would help people to get rid of their deeply rooted erroneous ideas. Such provisions would regulate all links in a commercial operation, informing people what behaviors are permitted and what are prohibited.

For instance, it is illegal for a doctor to accept a bribe or gift because he has already been paid. Regulations specifying punishment for doctors who take bribes would act as a warning to both doctors and those offering bribes.

Because it is a common social phenomenon, simply preaching against it won't eliminate commercial bribery. The best way to cope with this problem is by resorting to laws and regulations, said Li.

Besides being a Party chief, Li Chengyan has another title - he is a consultant to the Leading Group of Anti-Commercial Bribery of the CPC Central Committee. His research report covering the causes of and ways to combat bribery has been submitted to the Party's Central Committee. Currently a document compiled along with the report is being amended.

Li explained that the Central Committee always attaches great importance to advice given by experts in various fields. Party General Secretary Hu Jintao said in his speech to the ongoing 17th National Congress of the Party that the role of the think tank deserves much attention. Referring to specialized suggestions is an indispensable step in the process of decision-making.

Meanwhile, Li said, the involvement in decision-making holds dual benefits, because it also serves as a good opportunity for those specialists to study related policies of the Party. They could impart their study results to students, thus significantly advancing knowledge of this field.

(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting, October 20, 2007)