Authorities to keep tabs on Nanjing officials

Officials in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, will have to report their marital status, as well as the immigration status of their spouses and children, to the organization department, according to a government regulation released on Monday.

The officials must file a report within five working days if their marital status changes, or their spouses or children immigrate or are sentenced, it said. The officials also need to give five days' notice before going abroad for private reasons.

Though welcomed by many on the Internet, the legitimacy of the regulation has been questioned by some experts.

"Reports about marital status are not required by the Civil Servant Law or the Party Constitution," said Tang Jun, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "Though officials need to reveal certain information to the public due to their powers, they still have their privacy to protect."

"It's hard to tell what kind of information should be revealed to the public."

"The measures to share the officials' private information should be considered prudently and follow legal procedures before they are implemented," Tang said.

The regulation also says that officials must hand over their passports, as well as report securities and investments worth more than 100,000 yuan ($16,000) and real estate of more than 30 square meters.

The local government will randomly check 4 percent of the officials to ensure the accuracy of their information. Any violators will be punished.

According to Nanjing's discipline inspection commission, 653 officials were investigated for corruption last year.

Wang Huanchun, director of the provincial discipline inspection commission's case management department, said that 10,610 cases had been filed in Jiangsu by November, up 11 percent year-on-year.