NDRC official in bribery probe

The official in charge of civil aviation affairs at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) was reportedly arrested for allegedly accepting bribes to approve airport-related projects.

Police recently picked up Kuang Xin, 48, the director of civil aviation affairs at the department of industry at NDRC, China Youth Daily reported Monday.

The report quoted unidentified sources as saying that authorities were tipped of by the owner of a private company who accused Kuang of committing economic crimes related to the approval of a construction project at an airport. The report said many other civil aviation officials were also investigated for corruption.

Kuang had the power to approve planning and construction projects at airports and held influence in choosing the number and type of airplanes that the Civil Affairs Administration of China (CAAC) and airlines could purchase.

Civil aviation insiders pointed out that corruption is partly to blame on an over-centralized sector. The report said those with approval powers are easily obsessed with abusing their authority for profit.
An employee at the commission told the Global Times Monday that it was not clear who would replace Kuang.

Kuang is just one of a few officials in the civil aviation affairs being investigated. Zhang Zhizhong, the former board chairman of Capital Airport Holdings, was arrested on May 18 for allegedly taking bribes from a millionaire woman in the chartered plane business, China Business Journal reported.

Liu Yajun, the Party chief and director of the CAAC Central and Southern Regional Administration, committed suicide Thursday by lying under the wheels of a high-speed train traveling on the tracks of a Guangzhou-Shenzhen railway.

The National Audit Office this month found various abnormalities in CAAC's financial report, including the fact that 1 billion yuan ($147 million) was not accounted for and could have been used for bribery.

Two senior managers in charge of the flight time scheduling and administration at China Southern Airlines were under investigation, Shanghai Morning Post reported Monday.

Source:Global Times