Chinese officials required to report marital status, location of families

China issued a new anti-corruption regulation Sunday to require officials to report changes in their marital status, the whereabouts of their spouses and children if they have moved abroad, personal incomes, housing as well as their family' s investments.

The new regulation was issued by the General Office of China's State Council and the General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

The regulation defines "officials" as those leaders holding official ranks of and above county level in government agencies, democratic parties, public institutions, state owned enterprises and state holding enterprises.

The new regulation requires officials to report changes in their marital status and the location of their spouses and children if they have moved abroad, within 30 days after such a change takes place.

Specifically, officials should report their ownership of passports or visas and their children's marital status if they are married to foreigners or residents of Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Officials should also report any businesses their spouses and children are involved in, both within China and abroad.

The new regulation also requires officials to report their ownership of property, including property in their spouses' or children's names, their family's investment in financial assets and in enterprises.

According to the regulation, if officials fail to report honestly or in a timely fashion, they would face punishment to various degrees, even as harsh as removal of official ranks.

The regulation also ordered party organizations at all levels to strengthen management and supervision over officials to guarantee the implementation of the regulation.

This regulation is considered an important measure to ensure strict self-discipline for Party and government officials and to improve the intra-Party supervision system.

Source:Xinhua