Report on deadline for return of officials' children studying overseas false

The discipline watchdog of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Tuesday denied previous news reports saying that it is going to ask children of ministerial-level government officials to return to China less than a year after their graduation from foreign schools, an official confirmed to the Global Times.

The response came after Phoenix TV Tuesday quoted a source saying that Wang Qishan, head of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), was about to announce that the careers of ministerial-level officials could be affected should their children who study abroad not return before the deadline. It also said the commission would expand the rule to department-level officials within two years.

The press officer from the commission, who did not reveal his name, told the Global Times that the report was false. A search of the report on the channel's portal, ifeng.com, also showed that the article had been removed.

The report, which drew the public's interest over whether this would be another Party measure aiming to strengthen its management, came one day after disciplinary and supervisory officials were urged to throw away "membership cards received in various names" before June 20, a move seen by experts as targeting hidden corruption.

Although those cards are trivial matters, they reflect the problems in the working style of the Party, Wang said.

Fu Siming, an anti-corruption expert at the Party school of the CPC Central Committee, said it is not rare for officials to receive pre-paid cards, which they regard as a form of social networking, adding that if they receive these cards and give benefits in exchange, it constitutes bribery.

Fu added the commission will not tolerate such hidden corruption. If the officials don't hand them over before the deadline, they will face punishment if they are reported.

The CPC Central Committee also published two documents to regulate the formation of Party rules on Monday, in a bid to tighten up intra-Party management. The regulations detail which Party organs are authorized to draft, approve, publish, amend and abolish regulations, what procedures they should follow and how they should be put on record.

Zhang Xixian, a professor with the Party School, said the new regulations suit the Party's development, as it currently operates under a comprehensive set of regulations, some of which have been drafted randomly and sometimes caused chaos, or have become outdated.