A national system will be set up "in due time" which will
require civil servants to declare personal assets as a deterrent to
corruption, Qu Wanxiang, vice-minister of supervision, said
yesterday.
"We will start it after a thorough review," Qu told a press
conference before the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention was
unveiled. Qu is also the deputy head of the bureau.
Citing international experience, Qu said that the difficulty
lies in verifying the authenticity of what officials declare.
He said that the country's financial system is not sophisticated
enough and bank accounts are not always opened under real
names.
"All these things should be considered," he said.
Tsinghua University professor Ren Jianming said an
asset-declaration system should be a crucial part of the country's
corruption prevention strategy, and should be implemented in a
"gradual and careful" manner.
"Panic and strong opposition from local officials might stifle
the move if it is enforced in a rush," Ren said.
"We should begin with pilot projects in a county or a city
before gradually expanding it."
The State Council issued a regulation last year requiring
officials to declare activities involving major financial
transactions such as buying a house, marriage or plans to go
abroad, but did not order them to submit reports on personal
assets.
(China Daily September 14, 2007)