The head of China's electricity watchdog has lashed out at what
he deemed the "local protectionism" that inspectors uncovered over
an 18-month investigation into the commercial corruption polluting
the state power sector.
State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) chairman You Quan
said the campaign marked a "substantial initial achievement," with
121 commercial corruption cases found between August 2005 and March
2007, resulting in 178 people being brought to task and a total of
44.07 million yuan in illicit funds uncovered.
However, he told a meeting of the commercial corruption control
group, "The mind-set of local protectionism and protecting
departmental interests must be corrected."
A nationwide campaign among 5,846 electricity enterprises
recovered 17.14 million yuan in cash gifts or negotiable securities
from both firms and individuals. This positive news is still only a
first step for You who has called for a long-term anti-corruption
mechanism to be established as soon as possible.?
He said that future investigations will oversee electricity
engineering, equipment and materials procurement, property rights
transactions, power supply services and electricity bill payments.
Furthermore, a blacklist will be created to name and shame those
involved in corrupt practices.
You also encouraged members of the public to pass on information
exposing malpractice to inspectors and that such actions would be
recompensed.
Since 2005, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
China (CPC) and the central government have been involved in a
nationwide drive to purge commercial corruption from governmental
departments.
The State Administration for Industry and Commerce preceded the
SERC's findings with a report in April shining light onto 9,086
commercial corruption cases in 2006, involving a total 1.93 billion
yuan.
From August 2005 to the end of 2006, the government dealt with
17,084 commercial corruption cases totaling more than 4.5 billion
yuan (US$577 million) in ill-begotten gains. However, under the
national drive, over 2.6 million enterprises and government
departments have conducted self-regulation drives, recovering 417
million yuan (US$53.46 million) in illegal earnings in 2006.
(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2007)