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March 7, 2015

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Officials’ families under scrutiny

SHANGHAI is to tighten oversight of the business activities of local officials’ spouses and children, Shanghai Party Secretary Han Zheng said yesterday.

A new regulation is to be piloted in the city ahead of its promotion nationwide, Han told a press conference in Beijing on the sidelines of the ongoing National People’s Congress.

“The regulation will have different criteria for different levels of officials, but the higher the official’s level is, the stricter the regulation will be,” Han said.

He said the city government is currently soliciting opinions on the details with a view to putting the regulation into practice sometime in the second quarter of the year.

President Xi Jinping highlighted the importance of strict regulations for high-level officials during a panel discussion with lawmakers from the city on Thursday.

Xi expressed the hope that Shanghai’s experience in implementing the regulation could be applied elsewhere in the country.

Shanghai’s Deputy Party Secretary Ying Yong told Xi that the involvement of officials’ family members in commercial concerns is likely to lead to corruption, with the phenomenon common in the developed areas.

The regulation is the latest in a list of projects that Shanghai will have piloted before they are adopted nationwide. The list includes the city’s free trade zone and plans to establish a scientific innovation center with “global influences.”

At yesterday’s press conference, Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong said the city’s free trade zone development had taken great strides since it was expanded to more than 120 square kilometers from an initial 29 square kilometers in the Pudong New Area.

Han said: “The development of the FTZ is better than expected and the city will announce new major policies this year.”

He said the city will ensure there is closer cooperation with Hong Kong to develop the FTZ as it had more international professionals and a better financial environment.

Turning to economic concerns, Yang said Shanghai’s gross domestic product is expected to grow 7 percent this year, as in 2014, for a “smooth economic development.”

“Shanghai pays more attention to quality and profitable development that can better benefit the citizens as well as drive innovative development and economic transformation,” the Party secretary said.

Han said that the city would be taking steps to attract more international professionals in addition to local talent for the forthcoming national scientific innovation center.

He said the city will work out an initial plan in May on establishing the center.

At his meeting with Shanghai lawmakers, Xi urged the city to continue its leading role in spearheading ongoing reforms, opening-up and innovation in an effort to make greater contributions to the nation’s reform, development and stability.




 

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