Three prefecture-level government officials removed from their posts after accepting bribes and misappropriating public funds will be prosecuted. 

The move is part of growing efforts by the Guangzhou Municipal Commission for Inspecting Discipline to tackle corruption, said Yan Cuifang, the commission's secretary-general, during a weekend press conference.

Particular attention will be paid to big cases, Yan said.

The three senior municipal officials, who will be tried publicly, are Li Weiyu, Tang Wenjun and Zhong Qiang, Yan said.

Li Weiyu, former Party secretary and director of the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection, was allegedly paid more than 1 million yuan (US$120,000) to grant specific projects to contractors. Li took office in October of 2003.

Ten other officials in Li's bureau were also believed to have been involved in this case. All have been removed from their posts for questioning.

Tang Wenjun, former director of the Office for Eliminating Pornography and Illegal Publications under the Guangzhou city government, was found to have pocketed more than 1 million yuan (US$120,000) from sales of pornographic VCDs, CDROMs and publications that his office seized.

And Zhong Qiang, former vice-manager of the Guangzhou International Trust and Investment Corporation, was also investigated in connection to the misuse of public funds valued at more than 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million).

Li, Tang and Zhong are just three of the many officials who were investigated in the southern metropolis in the first six months this year, said Yan yesterday. That included five prefecture-level officials.

Yan did not give more details on the ongoing investigations on the other two officials.

Between January and June, a total of 34 Party and government officials at county level or higher were investigated in connection to 33 separate cases.

The number of corruption cases handled in the first half of this year jumped 21.43 percent from 2003 to 153. Some 177 local government officials were involved.

Of those cases, 95 involved more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,200), up 33.8 percent from the same period of the previous year.

And 137 Party members have been handed disciplinary measures in the past six months, said Yan.

(China Daily July 5, 2004)