Rules include being on call 24/7
Officials of China's Communist Party and the government have been feeling the heat since a series of regulations have tightened controls over them, including the "strictest ever" asset reporting system.
Beginning with the country's most intense campaign to prosecute corrupt officials, authorities are now adopting detailed rules to prevent corruption at an earlier stage and in a more sustainable way, analysts said.
"A large number of local governments require that officials' cellphones be switched on 24 hours a day," read a commentary in the China Discipline Inspection News, a newspaper affiliated with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China, on Saturday.
The commentary cited the head of the construction bureau in Liquan county, Shaanxi Province as an example. He had recently been reprimanded after turning off his phone and remaining out of touch for "a long time."
"Such a requirement showcases the increasingly rigorous regulations for officials and Party members in terms of political principles and the grip on officials' power, their duties and life, after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) [in late 2012 when Xi Jinping was elected General Secretary of the Party]," Zhang Xixian, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee told the Global Times.
Dozens of minister-level officials and above have been investigated in the past three years, including Zhou Yongkang, one of the central government's top leaders. As the nationwide anti-graft drive intensifies, it is time to introduce detailed rules and regulations to deter corruption in the long run, Zhang said.
Officials will be given "warnings" or "serious warnings" if they go on a trip but fail to report their whereabouts to authorities as required, according to a set of Party rules on sanctions for those who violate the Party code of conduct that took effect on January 1.
"Authorities have no idea where certain officials go. Sometimes it takes much effort to look for them when they are needed," Xi was quoted by the China Discipline Inspection News as saying in January.
Administrators withhold the passports of many local government officials and only return them after a strict personal assessment or for formal overseas tours. Provincial- and ministerial-level CPC officials are required to report their annual plan for overseas tours to the CCDI and the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.
While these regulations are partly aimed at preventing officials from fleeing China, the asset reporting system may put an end to corruption, experts said.
According to the "strictest" asset declaration system, which was developed by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, officials at the deputy county level or above are required to report their personal information annually to the Party, including personal and family assets and investments, any overseas travel, as well as the nationality and occupation of their relatives, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Aside from the reports, officials shall also report major changes about them and their family within 30 days, including their marital status, their offspring's marriage to foreigners as well as people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, immigration and overseas occupation of their spouse and children, the China Discipline Inspection News reported on March 2. Assets to be declared include those made on Alibaba's Yuebao personal finance product.
The newspaper said this year's form contains 10 pages while previous ones were limited to a few lines.
Although some officials complained about the tighter supervision, it is reasonable to make regulations stricter and they will adapt to it, Ye Qing, a deputy director of the statistics bureau of Central China's Hubei Province, told the Global Times.
Xi called on the Party to strictly administer cadres at a nationwide teleconference marking the end of a sweeping mass-line campaign in 2014. "Supervision is key to Party building," Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Unlike political parties in the West, the CPC, a pioneering party, is committed to wholeheartedly serving the people. However, the cornerstone of the Party's governance may be eroded if the CPC fails to fulfill its commitment, Zhi Zhenfeng, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told the Global Times.
Therefore, stricter supervision of Party members becomes necessary, as a heavier responsibility on CPC officials means greater power in a sense, increasing the chance of corruption, Zhi noted.
A guideline issued by the Guangdong provincial discipline inspection commission in August 2015 states that county-level CPC officials' personal lives shall be "closely watched," especially their social life and pastimes, according to the CCDI's official website.
The CCDI has repeatedly stated that Party members should come under harsher Party rules than State laws.
It has been regularly publishing details of investigations into State and local officials in the past three years and exposing their wrongdoings.
Many officials who are allegedly involved in adultery, which is not a crime in China, have been reported on the CCDI's website.
The central watchdog is also sending out inspection teams to local governments or State-owned companies to root out corruption.
