Ma Wen, head of the newly-established National Corruption Prevention Bureau (NCPR), recently had an interview with People's Daily reporter Jiang Jie on the related issues on the establishment of NCPB. Ma is currently Chinese minister of supervision as well as deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The detailed accounts of his interview are as follows:
It exhibits the resolve of CPC and the Chinese nation to prevent corruption to world
Q: Why should China set up its National Corruption Prevention Bureau?
A. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council, or the central government, has all along attached great importance to the work of preventing corruption. It constitutes a measure of vital importance taken by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council in pressing ahead with the work in this regard and the inevitable requirement for the in-depth development of the job of combating corruption and building a clean government.
First of all, the institution of NCPB is demanded by the adherence to the strategic principle of combating corruption and building a clean government, and the establishment of a system for penalizing and guarding against corruption. In the 90s of the last century, the CPC designated three major categories of work, namely, intensifying the efforts to make officials incorruptible and self-disciplined, probing and dealing with discipline-breaking and law-violating cases and conscientiously rectifying unhealthy tendencies or practices in government departments and trades and battling against corruption, and scored a relatively apparent effect.
The CPC Central Committee with Hu Jintao as the general secretary, by making a correct assessment of the situation, set up the strategic principle of striking at both causes and consequences in a comprehensive way and attaching importance to both penalties and prevention with stress placed on prevention. It also mapped out a major task of forming and improving a setup for punishment and prevention of corruption. And the work of guarding against corruption has turned increasingly protruding in the anti-corruption and building of a clean government. So, to set up a special corruption prevention institution constitutes an organizational measure of vital importance in pushing forward the setup of penalizing corruption and building a clean government.
In view of specific, concrete work, various localities and government departments have done a lot to enhance education, improve the relevant setup, reinforce supervision and conduct in-depth reform in the course of spurring the network of penalizing and preventing corruption. Nevertheless, there are also some weak links with regard to the work.
Second, the institution of NCPB is required by the implementation of the "UN Convention against Corruption", which was adopted by the 58th Session of the UN General Assembly in October 2003. The UN convention underscored the comprehensive employment of legislative, judicial, administrative and other related means to help contain corruption.
In October 2005, the Standing Committee of China's 10th National People's Congress (NPC) deliberated and ratified the UN convention. Hence, the establishment of a special corruption prevention agency represents an organizational measure for China to implement the UN convention.
The obligation of NCPB is primarily to organize coordination and all-round planning, formulate policies and give inspection and guidance.
Q. Could you give brief account of the vital importance on setting up NCPB?
A. NCPB is China's first special institution set up at the national level to guard against corruption, and its establishment is sure to promote the country's corruption prevention work in a more penetrating way for the following reasons:
First, to facilitate coordinating the relevant work of various departments in corruption prevention so as to help form an integral power for corruption prevention; second to facilitate extending the related work scope and bringing about a sound situation for corruption prevention in society at large, thirdly, it is favorable for raising the capacity for corruption prevention and increasing the professional level of the work and, fourthly, it is favorable for conducting international exchange and cooperation in corruption prevention since it poses a topic facing the entire international community.
NCPB is designed primarily to organize national coordination and all-round planning, enact policies and giving inspections and guidance
Q. What processes has NCPB undergone from deliberations to its establishment?
A. It has taken more than four years to establish the NCPB, from bringing forth motions to the approval by central authority, and it should be said to have undergone adequate studies, enunciations and evaluation. When the UN Convention against Corruption was being drafted and negotiated, the Chinese delegation mulled the formation of a special corruption prevention organ and agreed to write into the convention the guaranteed formation of a corruption prevention agency in line with the basic principles of the legal system of a signatory nation. The Chinese government signed the UN convention in December 2003 and, a proposal to set up the National Corruption Prevention Bureau was raised over one year later and, in June 2005, the central authority approved the proposal in principle.
The NPC Standing ratified the UN convention in October 2005 and, in January 2006 a special work team was founded by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Ministry of Supervision to undertake the job, and the team latter submitted its preliminary plans to high-ups. On May 31 this year, the central authority formally approved the institution of the NCPB.
Q. What are the main obligations of the NCPB?
A. NCPB has three main obligations in accordance with a written reply given by the high-up central authorities. The first one is to take charge of organizing nationwide coordination and all-round planning, enacting policies and giving inspection and guidance. The second one is to coordinate and direct enterprises, institutions, social groups, intermediate agencies and other social bodies or organizations in corruption prevention and, thirdly to involve itself in international cooperation and assistance in the sphere of corruption prevention.
Q. How is NCPR formed or organized?
A. NCPR has been incorporated into the ranks of government departments directly under the State Council and put up its signboard at the Ministry of Supervision. Its direct general is concurrently the deputy secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the minister of supervision. It has two deputy directors-general, one of whom is assumed concurrently by a vice-minister of supervision, and the other, a full-time deputy director general at the vice-ministerial level. The office set up under NCPR is an administrative body to handle routine, day-today work.
NCPR, however, does not take up any specific corruption prevention work of various departments and units in term of their scope of business. In this realm, it chiefly assists and coordinate them in carrying out their work.
A brand-new topic for beefing up corruption prevention from national macro-layer
Q. How NCPR will carry out its work for the next step?
A. For the work of NCPR at present and a period to come, the important speech of General Secretary Hu Jintao made on June 25 in the Party School of the CPC Central Committee this year made an incisive enunciation and chartered the orientation in this regard. It is imperative to strike at both causes and consequences, attach both penalties and prevention with stress placed on prevention and, while meting out harsh blows at corruption, more attention should be paid to readdressing it at its sources, to the prevention and to the enaction of rules and regulations, Hu acknowledged.
General speaking, the work experience accumulated by various regions and government departments should be summarized, and positive, beneficial experience from overseas should be taken as reference, so as to do the work for corruption prevention better still and in a more penetrating way.
Nevertheless, it poses a new topic to implement the function of the NCPR correctly and step up the prevention of corruption from the macro-national level, which calls for active exploration and assiduous practice. On the eve of the impending 17th CPC National Congress, people around China should conscientiously and earnestly carry out its guidelines and effectively push forward corruption prevention in strict compliance with the plans the imminent congress is expected to set for the arduous job of battling against corruption and building a clear government.
By People's Daily Online |
