Prosecutors in Shanghai have called on the government to provide
better supervision of State-owned companies under their
jurisdiction, the Shanghai Municipal Prosecutors' Office said
yesterday.
Following five cases of corruption at a State-owned
telecommunications company, the Shanghai Hongkou District
Prosecutor's Office called on its governing ministry to appoint an
independent official to supervise the firm, which it agreed to
do.
Ju Guangjian, head of the crime prevention office on taking
advantage of power, said the idea had been well received and was
subsequently adopted by the district State-owned assets supervision
and administration commission, which has applied it to all such
enterprises in the Hongkou district.
In a similar case, the Shanghai Railway Prosecutor's office and
Shanghai Xuhui district prosecutors' office asked for independent
supervision of the construction of the Shanghai South Railway
Station.
The idea was later applied to other major construction schemes,
including the Yangshan Deepwater Port project.
Ju said he was pleased supervision has been improved.
"Following a suggestion by district prosecutors, the Pudong New
Area district government appointed an official from the secretary
of discipline inspection's office to supervise a new development
zone," he said.
"It is good that independent officials are now supervising some
key projects but more needs to be done."
Ju added that while a close eye was generally kept on government
departments and State-owned companies that had a history of
corruption, not enough was being done to prevent it happening
elsewhere.
"Supervision of those in power, as a whole, is not good enough,"
he said.
Ju said corruption was most prevalent in departments and firms
involved in sectors such as healthcare, construction and
relocation, where both power and potential profits are at their
highest.
He said several graft cases with a combined value of more than
400,000 yuan had been reported in the suburban Fengxian district
involving hospital dental departments.
Also, this year alone, the Jinshan district prosecutors' office
has dealt with 11 corruption cases involving relocation projects,
he said.
In January 2006, prosecutors' offices in Shanghai introduced a
records system for all those with convictions for offering bribes,
Ju said. The information is available at all local prosecutors'
offices to individuals and business representatives.
Ju said that on the first day of the information being made
available, a representative of a local firm found the name of a
potential business partner on the list and immediately severed ties
with the man.
"In the future, even more records and information will be
included in the system," Ju said.
(China Daily November 27, 2007)
