China publishes books on officials' morality  

A book series expounding the moral issues of officials, the first-ever publication on the topic in China, was released for sale Monday in Beijing as part of government-backed efforts to promote integrity among civil servants.

The four-book series embodies the results of research conducted by experts with the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences at the request of Beijing authorities two years ago, according to a report published by the Beijing Daily.

The books record the development of theories about officials' morality through Chinese history and provide case studies, as well as highlight the importance of raising officials' moral standards in modern society, an official with the Beijing Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was quoted as saying in the report.

The major difference between good and bad officials simply lies in whether they perform duties with a conscience, says the prologue of the series.

Nowadays, the CPC, as the ruling party, must value virtues of officials and it is a general trend for officials to abide by professional ethics, according to a passage in one of the books.

The book also points out a moral official in modern China should always serve the people as well as be loyal, pragmatic, fair-minded and incorruptible, while always improving oneself.

The series will serve as anti-graft reading material for all Communist Party cadres in Beijing, according to the report.