-------Presented By Chinese delegation at the V Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity
Ladies and gentlemen:
It is a great pleasure to have this valuable opportunity to share ideas and thoughts with you, and I'd like to offer my sincere thanks to the organizer for holding this meeting.
Since the implementation of reform and opening policy in 1979, China has been maintaining social stability and progress, economic development and continuously improving living standard of its people. However, as China is currently at a historic stage of far-reaching social and economic restructuring, corruptions occur during the process of rapid economic development. Yet Chinese government has always been fully aware of these problems and committed to combating corruptions while furthering reform and opening practices and economic growth. Chinese government's anticorruption efforts have been continuously deepening and remarkable achievements have been made, providing solid assurance for economic growth and social justice. Here, I'd like to describe Chinese government's anticorruption efforts, especially its practices of preventing and addressing corruption at the root.
1. Promote institutional innovation and address the root cause of corruption through reform
Chinese government is endeavoring to build and continuously improve an anticorruption mechanism conducive to prevention against corruption, in an effort to address the root of corruption through reform and opening practices. We carefully study and identify any weak points of administrative setups and public administration vulnerable to development of corruption, attach great importance to decentralization of power, fund supervision and control and administrative standard, ①proactively deep reform in respect of ①government functionary personnel system, ②judicial system, ③administrative approval system, ④tax and financial system, ⑤investment policy and ⑥state property supervision and control. By furthering reform of administrative approval system, the State Council departments have canceled and readjusted 1806 protect proposals, and governments at provincial, autonomous region and municipal level cancelled and readjusted 22220 protect proposals, accounting for over 50% of total protect proposals. Local governments across the country have tightened restrictions and control over administrative approval authority by instituting administrative approval procedure and continuously improving administrative approval decision-making, operating, management and supervision mechanisms. Reform of fiscal administration system is underway, departmental budget system and centralized treasury payment system are being put into use across the board and utilization and management of financial assets is in the process of standardization.
To prevent corruption as a result of administrative intervention in market, we are actively pushing market-oriented reform, and energetically applying public bidding system in construction project contracting, transfer of land use right for commercial purposes, transaction of property rights and government procurement, in order to call into full play the fundamental role of market mechanism in allocation of public resources. By 2006, Chinese government's procurement size amounted to 350 billion yuan RMB, and equality of US$ 50 billion.
As a fundamental principle of administration and an effective measure to improve government work efficiency and curb corruption, the central government requires local governments at all levels to make government affairs public. Local governments at all levels are required to administer in a transparent manner without exception unless it is absolutely necessary for public benefits. And government news release system is required to be in place across the country and extensive efforts must be made to make government affairs public, thus leading to a higher transparency of governmental activities. Local governments have initiated appraisal of work style and performance of government functionaries through open and democratic discussions. Most local governments and many departments have established administrative service centers and administrative complaint centers, thus allowing public opinions to be heard in a more effective manner and providing assurance for such democratic rights of the general public as right of information, right to participate in government and political affairs and right of supervision.
2. Continuously improve anticorruption laws, regulations and mechanism to ensure compliance with public servants' code of conduct.
The Chinese government has always been committed to studying and instituting anticorruption laws and regulations and accelerating the process of legislation on building an honest and clean government. In recent year, the National People's Congress of China has amended such substantial and procedural laws as Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law, continuously improved criminal punishment laws that provide fundamental legal basis for punishment on the corrupt, instituted the Law of Supervision, Civil Service Law, the Chinese government also formulated the Program for Full-scale Implementation of Administration by Law, specifying the objective and mission of building a state with adequate legal system. Currently, we are working on instituting such supporting policies as Rules and Regulations on Administrative Sanction of Government Functionaries and Rules and Regulations on Publicity of Government Affairs, instituting and continuously improving system of accountability for acts jeopardizing public benefits, as well as a system of major event reporting and declaration of income of leading officials.
Considering that personal interests of government functionaries in socialist market economy come into conflict with public benefits, the Chinese government has instituted and implemented a set of code of conducts and moral standards designed to keep government functionaries clean and honest. They basically cover every possible vulnerable points of government functionaries to corruption in the context of market economy.
3. Intensify efforts to educate public servants on clean and honest administration and actively build awareness of clean and honest administration.
Building awareness of clean and honest administration is a significant groundwork for effectively preventing and combating corruption. While relentlessly punishing a limited number of corrupted officials, Chinese government is endeavoring to ensure that government functionaries is well aware of the importance of compliance with anticorruption laws and regulations and the need to fight against corruption while performing official duties. We focus awareness-building efforts on leading officials, educate government functionaries on professional ethics, compliance with disciplines and laws and devotion to the public service, supervise and urge government officials to serve the general public in a clean, honest and wholehearted manner. We endeavor to make such awareness-building efforts an integral part of promotion, personnel administration, appointment and training of leading officials.By sticking to and continuously improving anticorruption training and expostulation practice, we have built an effective anticorruption educational mechanism and structure.
The Chinese government is extending such awareness-building efforts to the entire society for the purpose of building a clean and honest culture in the country. We proactively combine ideological and disciplinary educations with public education on social morality, professional ethics and family relations and make every effort to build an anticorruption culture. We also actively initiate anticorruption awareness-building campaign covering every corner of the country, give publicity to anticorruption role models by using media extensively, guide public opinions in favor of anticorruption efforts and build an ideological climate honoring anticorruption efforts. The Ministry of Supervision and Ministry of Education of China have jointly initiated educational campaign for building anticorruption culture, with particular emphasis on young people on campus, in an effort to create favorable conditions for formation of anticorruption atmosphere in the whole country.
4. Adhere to administration by law, keep government functionaries clean and honest and impose severe punishment on the corrupted.
The Chinese government regards fact-finding investigation and severe punishment as a major means of combating corruption and safeguarding social justice. We focus on identifying and punishing those government officials who abuse their power and authorities for illegal gains, cracking down on any corrupt officials involved in embezzlement, bribery and defalcation high-budget construction projects with inflated budget, dishonest financial transactions, land administration, material and service procurement activities, serious loss of state property during business reorganization and restructuring, title transaction and business operations. We are determined to relentlessly punish any corrupted officials once identified, particularly those involved in serious violation of party disciplines and laws. With these unremitting efforts, we have made remarkable achievements on political, economic and social scales.
In 2006, chinese government launched an ad-hoc nationwide campaign against briberies in business, involving regulatory authorities of 49 industrial sectors and 2.6 million enterprises and institutions for identifying and remedying any problems and issues existing in regulatory and business activities. And many trade organizations have formulated code of conducts and professional ethics in an effort to strengthen internal supervision. Thanks to these efforts, the general public is increasingly aware of the hazards of business briberies, and a long-term mechanism for combating business bribery is being established forming in a steady manner.
The Chinese government has always been valuing international exchange and cooperation in combating corruption, by among others, becoming one of the first signatory countries to the United Nations Anticorruption Convention. To bring Chinese legal system more in line with the convention, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress adopted the sixth amendment to the Criminal Law and the Anti-money-laundering Law of the People's Republic of China according to the provisions of the convention in June 2006, with the National Bureau of Prevention from Corruption being in the process of establishment. We take the initiative in cooperation with relevant countries for cracking down on cross-border corruption and reinforced law enforcement under the principle of equality, mutual benefit, mutual respect for national conditions and efficiency. And we have achieved productive cooperation with APEC, OECD, ADB and UNDP and other international organizations.
Ladies and gentlemen, through many years' painstaking efforts, the Chinese government has made remarkable achievements in anticorruption activities for building a clean and honest government, and effectively contained the momentum of spreading corruption. Through the anticorruption efforts in recent years, we have gained valuable experiences. And we will continue making unremitting efforts to combat corruption and build a clean government in the future.
Firstly, centering around the objective of economic development. Development is the key to addressing any problem in China. Anticorruption works must focus on development and serve the purpose of economic development.
Secondly, sticking to the philosophy of putting people first, seeking public benefits through good administration and striving for a harmonious society. The highest priority of Chinese government's anticorruption efforts is to win public support as much as possible. To do this, it requires implementation of the fully coordinated scientific development approach of putting people first and sustainability, removal of any obstacle to public benefits in the first place .
Thirdly, adhering to the strategy of comprehensive approach with equal emphasis on prevention and precaution crucial in order to establish and improve an anticorruption mechanism of punishment and prevention.
Fourthly, strengthening international anticorruption cooperation. Corruption is a cancer of human society and combating corruption has become a common mission for governments on the planet.
Ladies and gentlemen! Development and harmony are common aspiration of people all over the world. Clean and honest administration, fight against corruption and a favorable social environment honoring justice, fairness, integrity and harmony are prerequisites to economic and social advancement of any country. We will adapt ourselves to new situations and challenges and intensify anticorruption efforts for the purpose of economic development and building a harmonious society.
So much for my speech, thank you very much.