China's disciplinary watchdog recently issued new regulations which "target new forms of corruption" in an effort to catch up with and overtake the tricks of wily, corrupt officials.
Corruption takes on different forms at different times.
In the 1980s when China was a centrally-planned economy with a double-track pricing system, corruption crept into the buying and selling of daily necessities and home appliances.
Officials allowed people who bribed them to buy goods, such as TV sets or washing machines, at a low "official price". The bribe givers could then sell the goods on to other people at a much higher "market price".
In the 1990s when China's economy began to boom, corruption spread into land allocation and real estate and the sale of state assets in the state-owned enterprises reform.
Today, corruption is more sophisticated. Officials are sometimes given stocks and shares as bribes. They may be invited to take part in gambling games or to become the "partners" of companies.
In some cases, officials do favors for unlawful entrepreneurs for no obvious immediate return. But when they retire, they immediately become high-ranking employees of the firms they once helped.
The new set of regulations, titled "issues to do with stopping officials from obtaining unlawful profits by taking advantage of their power", issued earlier this month, target the new forms of corruption.
The regulations require officials to voluntarily confess their wrongdoing, such as illegally receiving stocks and shares as gifts, buying commodities such as houses or automobiles at ridiculously low prices from those who ask them for favors, receiving bribes through gambling or cooperating with others to operate companies, within 30 days from May 30.
Those who confess their wrongdoing will be dealt with leniently. Those who fail to do that will be dealt with and punished strictly without any leniency, according to the regulations.
The CPC has been targeting corruption in certain commercial areas since 2006. That year, prosecuting organs at all levels filed and investigated 9,582 commercial bribery cases involving 1.5 billion yuan (195 million U.S. dollars) of illicit money. The commercial bribery cases mainly occurred in government procurement, medicine trading and real estate project development.
To curb corruption over the long term, the CPC Central Committee has proposed a three-pronged approach involving education, more efficient systems and better supervision.
(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2007)
