Religious rites provide channel for corruption

Some government officials in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region were found to have accepted bribes in connection with religious rituals, according to the country's top anti-graft watchdog.

The illegal acceptance of gifts and money remains rampant, according to a statement released on Thursday by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.

Some leaders have even collected money through religious rites, the statement said.

The autonomous region is populated by Muslim Hui people, who account for about 34.8 percent of the total 6.3 million, according to a survey conducted by the government in 2011.

Evidence of local officials' misbehavior was given to an inspection team dispatched by the government watchdog in late March.

During the two-month investigation, inspectors received many tips from whistle-blowers tips about illegal or questionable behavior, including contracting government projects to family members, meddling in the trade of public resources and embezzling public funds related to farmers.

The inspectors also found that some corrupt officials who should be subject to punishment were promoted. Also, some government departments have an excessive number of civil servants.

Ma Tieshan, head of the inspection team, told local officials on Thursday that they should enhance their oversight, and that leaders should be held accountable for the corrupt activities of their subordinates.

The trading of land, assignment of government projects and use of natural resources must be strictly regulated, Ma said, and public funds related to farmers must be closely monitored.

The information collected by the inspectors has been submitted to the central authorities for further probe, he said.

Li Jianhua, Party chief of Ningxia, said local anti-graft authorities will take a thorough look at the problems uncovered by the inspectors, and those who have violated the clean-governance rules will be punished as provided by law.

In late March, the discipline inspection office dispatched 14 teams to 11 provincial governments, a central ministry, a State-owned enterprise and a university to collect tips from whistle-blowers about officials' corrupt activities.

The CCDI has dispatched three batches of inspectors since last year whose efforts included probes of a number of senior officials, including Guo Youming, vice-governor of Hubei province, and Su Rong, vice-chairman of China's top political advisory body who once worked as Party chief of Jiangxi province.