Hotline set for reporting official misconduct

Chinese authorities have set up a hotline for the public to report misconduct of local offices in implementing the "mass line" campaign.

The hotline will be in use from Friday, along with the website www.12380.gov.cn, according to a Wednesday statement from the office in charge of the campaign.

The office will focus on handling reports on 21 specific violations including construction of government buildings, visits to high-end private clubs, training sessions, gifts and the problem of "naked officials", those whose spouse and children are overseas.

The office also asked local authorities to thoroughly correct these wrongdoings and publicize the results.

The "mass line" campaign was launched June last year to cement Party-people ties and clean up undesirable work styles such as bureaucracy and extravagance.

Local governments should conduct random inspections or "secret investigations" to check whether the lower-level authorities have implemented the campaign and corrected their violations.

The campaign focused on central and provincial-level departments in the first phase and lower-level offices and leaderships in the second stage, which will end in September.

It will soon start to target officials and Party members at the grassroots level, said Liu Yunshan, head of the campaign team, last month.