Govt starts examining officials' assets, dozens axed from promotion

Dozens of officials who were supposed to be promoted have been disqualified, as China's central authorities have begun to look into reports submitted by officials on their personal and family assets, to clamp down on corruption.

The reports of 1,550 officials, including those up for promotion on the provincial and ministerial levels, have been verified by 13 government departments led by the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), while the reports of 60,170 bureau- and county-level officials have been examined by local governments, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.

In 2010, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued a regulation requiring officials to report every year on 14 items including their marital status, property and investments, as well as the jobs of and companies invested or owned by their spouses and children, and the whereabouts of family members who live abroad or have migrated to another country.

However, these reports were not verified over the past four years, which led to some faulty or bogus information, The Beijing Times reported on Sunday.

The Organization Department began spot checks on the reports in January.

In the first round of spot checks, verification focused mainly on department- and bureau- level officials who were more likely to be promoted.

Anyone who intentionally conceals information will not be promoted, according to Xinhua.

So far, dozens of officials who were supposed to be promoted have been disqualified. Six officials supervised by the Organization Department of the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee were found to have violated disciplines and have been put under investigation.

Liu Xutao, a public management professor of the Chinese Academy of Governance, told the Global Times that the verification of assets reports can prevent corrupt officials from being promoted.

Liu projected that "the spot checks will cover more levels and posts."