Party newspaper suggests technology-intensive scrutiny of officials

A Communist Party of China (CPC) newspaper Monday suggested the country pay more attention to technology's role in supervising officials and curbing corruption.

China should pay closer attention to Internet whistleblowing, wrote an article published in the Study Times, a weekly newspaper affiliated with the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC.

The country's anti-graft agencies should give as much attention to Internet informants as those using traditional channels and should set up a special unit to respond to them, the article said.

Plans should be drafted on how to respond to online public opinion about corrupt officials and inform netizens about the progress and results of investigations, said the article.

The article also suggested that a national real estate ownership registration database, which has not yet been available in China, could help supervise officials and restrain corruption.

Through a national database, anti-graft agencies could more easily track down properties of officials, and corrupt officials would face more risk when registering properties in someone else's name.

So far only 40 Chinese cities have pooled their real estate ownership registration databases.

Anti-money laundering measures in the financial sector will help prevent corrupt officials from sneaking illegal money abroad, especially as a number of officials have sent their families to live overseas, the article wrote.

However, Chinese banks lag behind on this issue, the article said, adding that many have not adopted effective measures to monitor money laundering and lack well-trained staff.

"China's anti-corruption system has yet to fully take shape. While the leadership is drawing up a comprehensive design, we should also pay more attention to technical details so as to improve the efficiency of anti-graft work and close the loopholes in our system," the article said.

Chinese leadership has committed to rooting out corruption through both prevention and punishment.

The ongoing trial of Bo Xilai, former secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and a former member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, highlights the country's move against high-level corruption.

But the country is also looking forward to more systematic breakthroughs in restraining the use of power and supervising officials.