The central bank has said it will strengthen anti-money laundering measures in its bid to fight corruption.

"(We) will use all the central bank's powers to help with society's drive against corruption," Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said at a televised national conference on Friday.

He also called for the monitoring of large-scale and dubious capital deals to be enhanced to stem money laundering and corruption, a statement published on the bank's website said yesterday.

China has consistently stepped up its efforts to fight money laundering.

Last year, it passed its anti-money laundering law, which took effect from the start of this year.

Last month, the central bank released rules on the control of terrorism financing, which require banks to report suspicious transactions to the financial authorities.

And late last month, the country was admitted into the Financial Action Task Force, the 33-member intergovernmental body that coordinates global efforts to fight money laundering.

Zhou called for the credit information database to be expanded to include more corporate and individual credit information.

The banking "real name" account system, which requires people to register their real names when depositing money in banks, should be strictly implemented to prevent people from using fake identities to launder money they obtained by corrupt or illegal means.

He also said the bank should carefully investigate information provided by the public, especially that concerning infrastructure construction and equipment procurement.

(China Daily 07/17/2007 page3)