Officials' property ownership a public concern

A month after the central leadership issued a notice requiring officials to report certain information about the property they and their families own and other relevant information, those above the vice-county level have already finished submitting them. A complete mechanism of submitting officials' information to higher authorities will be established and improved in the future. Comments:

Not only government and Party officials, but also the executives of State-owned enterprises must submit their information to higher authorities. The range of officials covered by the requirement is wider than that in the United States and Australia, and the total number exceeds 1.5 million. In order to make the mechanism more effective, the authorities need some complementary mechanisms such as a healthy credit system, so that officials pay for their lies.

Wang Minggao, a professor at Hunan University of Commerce, March 24

Most developed countries require officials to disclose their property ownership to the public, yet in China all they need to do is submit such information to higher authorities. Obviously, the former is more effective because it enables public supervision. We expect the system in China to be improved and made more transparent.

Xu Shaolin, an independent commentator, via Sina micro blog, March 24

Requiring officials to disclose their property ownership is an international practice. However, the system in China needs some new characteristics to make it more effective. For example, the heads of counties are only county-level officials, but they have lots of power in hand. It is necessary to strengthen the supervision over them. Besides, some officials hide illicit profits under the names of their spouses and children. In response, the authorities require officials to submit information about their families' property ownership.

Xin Ming, a professor at the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC, March 24