Officials' pay to be publicized in Xinjiang

BEIJING, Jan.12 -- The income of more than

1,000 officials in Altay prefecture in the north of the Xinjiang Uygur

autonomous region will be made public by March, in line with ongoing efforts to

improve transparency in government, local disciplinary officials said

yesterday.

The move requires all county- and division-level

officials in Altay to declare their assets once a year.

Newly appointed and retired officials are supposed to

declare their property as soon as they take or leave office, said Wu Weiping,

Party secretary of Altay Prefecture Discipline Inspection Commission.

"The aim is clear and simple - to put official's

personal assets under supervision to prevent corruption," Wu said.

The latest requirement follows the unprecedented

release of the income details of 55 officials in the region on Jan 1.

The central government and the Central Committee of

the Communist Party of China had issued two regulations in 1995 and 2001,

requiring officials to declare their income. These were limited to officials'

salary and subsidies, with the information unavailable to the public or the

media.

However, the declaration in Altay is now divided into

two parts. The first part includes officials' annual salaries, subsidies and

other income from activities such as giving lectures and authoring books related

to their work.

Valuable gifts from job-related organizations or

individuals also fall in this category, according to a regulation posted on the

prefecture's anti-corruption website www.altlzw.com.

"Information on officials' income related to the

first part of the declaration will be available for everyone to see," Wu said.

The second part, which will be restricted from public

view, includes official's income from the stock market, inheritance and

lotteries, as well as any fixed assets of more than 100,000 yuan (14,630 U.S.

dollars). Officials are also required to report monetary gifts or gifts given to

their parents, spouses and children.

Only disciplinary officials have access to

information under this second part, as officials "also have the right to

privacy", Wu said.

"The reform has to proceed step by step," he said.

Still, the media can request for access to

information that falls under the second category of the declaration if an

official has received disciplinary or criminal punishment for corruption.

The income of 55 newly appointed officials in Altay

were publicized on the local anti-corruption website on Jan 1.

(Source: China Daily)