Moral standards for officials' personal life necessary: newspaper

New standards adopted by a county in China for performance assessment based on officials' moral conduct outside of work was a step forward, according to a commentary in the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

In the article signed by Zhong Zuwen in Friday's People's Daily, the author said the new standards emphasize "both morality and professional competence with morality taking priority" in official selection and promotion.

A county in east China's Jiangsu Province has recently adopted new rules to include records of local officials' marital fidelity, filial piety, parenting and good neighborliness in their biannual performance assessments.

"The standards included in the new rules reflect the traditional virtues in Chinese society and are also the basic moral requirements for the officials," the article said.

The article cited the late Tao Xingzhi, a famous ideologist and educationist, as saying that "a person who is not morally upright in his personal life is very likely to do harm to the public."

The article said most of the officials convicted of corruption in recent years were found to have had extramarital relations.

Morality standards for officials were necessary given the links between immoral actions in one's personal life and workplace corruption, the article said.

The author also urged that cadres and officials at all levels should set moral examples for the public and promote harmony in their families and society.

Source: Xinhua