Prosecutors asked to intensify hunt for corruption

National prosecutors have been asked to intensify efforts to hunt those who offer bribes to government officials, a move to facilitate the country's sweeping campaign on corruption.

The People's Supreme Procuratorate on Wednesday urged all prosecuting bodies across the country to take a tough line toward cases involving offering large bribes and show no leniency to those who repeatedly buy off officials.

Under a new principle outlined by top procuratorate, prosecutors are required to impose the maximum sentence within their mandatory discretion on those who offer large bribes to officials.

A total of 1,891 cases concerning giving bribes across the country were prosecuted during the first quarter, an increase of 6.1 percent over the same period of last year.

A national system to keep track of convictions for offering bribes was set up in 2012 and helped to uncover and prevent further cases.

The number of inquiries to the database stood at 4.34 million as of November. About 2,090 organizations and 2,426 individuals with criminal records for offering bribes have been detected, according to the top procuratorate.

The inquiries mainly involve requests for information related to bidding, government procurement, loan applications and personnel management.

"The system allows organizations and individuals to submit an inquiry about an individual or a company, and a record of any involvement in bribery is supplied," said Gao Yuntao, the deputy director in charge of the division of crime prevention at the top procuratorate.

"Companies with records of bribery may face restrictions on their activities, such as bidding for projects or applying for bank loans, or their businesses may be terminated."

The department said it will step up its efforts to investigate repeat offenders and cases involving the offering of large bribes. Members of the public who report cases or provide evidence will receive rewards.

"When bribery cases were found extended into more sectors, we need to set up a mechanism to prevent the proliferation of corruption. The database is one of the important tools to prohibit further crimes," said Song Hansong, head of the department.

Prosecuting departments across the country are obliged to provide information to companies, organizations and individuals who make inquires.

Song said the anti-graft authorities show no tolerance toward those who offer bribes or the officials who take bribes.

The department will make further efforts to share the information with more entities, Song said.