PARTY or government officials whose spouses and children have emigrated are to be subject to strictexamination when applying for private passports and going abroad, according to a new regulation.
The provisional regulation issued yesterday by the Party Central Committee and the State Council specifies new rules overseeing the issuing of private passports and travel passes to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan to such officials.
Officials of this kind have become so common in China that they share a nickname, "naked officials."
According to the new rules, "naked officials" should submit accounts on all income and property owned by their spouses and children overseas, and on any changes in their financial conditions.
"Officials whose duties or services are related to the countries and regions their spouses and offspring are living in should voluntarily report it to their higher authorities. If conflicts of interests are involved, the officials must avoid holdingrelated posts," the regulation says.
The regulation states that such officials should "strictly comply with relevant laws and regulations" when applying for passports and travel passes, or applying for traveling or emigrating abroad.
Officials above deputy-county head level applying for passports should consult with their higher authorities, it says, adding that a thoroughexamination should be conducted when promoting officials whose family members have emigrated.
The Party Central Committee General Office said the new rule is "an important anti-corruption measure" to make officials self-disciplined, clean, reliable and to be people of integrity.
The regulation covers all civil servants, but excludes top-ranking specialists in high-tech fields who have been recruited from overseas, along with "highly-qualified" overseas returnees.