Page 40 - 2016_WhitePaper_web
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6 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
There is still a lot of work to be done in this area, both in terms economic crimes who have fled the country. Fox Hunt’s goal:
of designing effective institutions and implementing them “block the last route of retreat” for corrupt officials after the
forcefully in reality. 47 country’s crackdown narrows the space for abuse of power. The
hunt netted 288 suspects, including 21 who had been at large
Based on the three-stage theory of Xi’s anti-corruption cam- for more than a decade, and 84 from developed countries such
paign, the success of this second stage eventually will lead to the as the U.S., Canada, Japan and Belgium. An ultimatum was is-
third stage: “do not even think about engaging in corruption.” sued – December 1, 2014 -- for escaped economic crimes sus-
This endeavor is fundamentally about changing China’s polit- pects, mostly corrupt former government officials, to give them-
ical culture - much more difficult than changing institutions. selves up in exchange for lenient sentences.
To address this problem, one related policy reform— Xinhua noted the success of the operation as “a positive sign
perhaps the most significant personnel reform after the 18th that the legal system and rule of law have been greatly improved
Party Congress—was also adopted on the same day. The in China, with many countries strengthening cooperation
essence of this new reform is to make sure that leading cadres and coordination with China on law enforcement.” Media re-
of the Party can be both promoted and demoted. Although this ports noted that President Xi Jinping referred to hunting for
might sound like a normal policy in other countries, in China economic crimes suspects overseas and recovering embezzled
it is usually the case that party leaders, once they have reached a money on various occasions during trips overseas, in a bid to
high rank, cannot be demoted for their incompetence or policy strengthen law enforcement cooperation with other countries
failures. They could be removed from their posts, but their rank such as when visiting Australia, New Zealand, Fiji or attend-
would stay with them, thus entitling them to the same benefits ing the G20 Summit in Brisbane. China has also helped forge
– medical and otherwise – that they’d have received before. The a cross-border law enforcement network to strengthen transna-
mission, for Xi, obviously is to eliminate those officials who are tional anti-corruption cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region,
against reforms and are corrupted and incompetent. 47 which was adopted by APEC leaders during the November
2014 summit in Beijing.6
Whether or not Xi’s new anti-corruption and personnel re-
forms will succeed, of course, remains to be seen. If they can Closer to home, the anti-corruption campaign continued
effectively implement these reforms, perhaps we can expect a in November 2014 when China’s deputy Procurator-General
much cleaner and more effective governance system in China Qiu Xueqiang announced that China will establish a new anti-
by 2020. graft body to further increase pressure on corrupt officials.7
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Mr. Qiu said that the
While observers ponder on the benefits or unintended plan for a new anti-graft agency was put forward by the Party
negative consequences of the anti-corruption campaign, committee of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) and
what remains obvious, just judging based on these recent was approved by the central authority. A vice-ministerial level,
developments alone, is that Mr. Wang Qishan, under President full-time member of the procuratorial committee will hold a
Xi Jinping’s leadership, remains fully committed to his role and concurrent post as head of the new anti-graft agency, Mr. Qiu
to carrying out his mission in making a corruption-free China added. According to Xinhua, China had established the anti-
come true. corruption bureau under the SPP in 1995 but after almost 20
years of development, the bureau has struggled to meet the
Anti-Corruption Campaign: Background demands for anti-corruption work. Mr. Qiu promised that the
new agency will be “better organized and better able to help
(This section “Anti-Corruption Campaign” is incorporated from the SPP handle major cases and break institutional obstacles” 7.
our 2015 White Paper.)
In addition to tightened scrutiny from a new anti-graft
In March 2014, while meeting with foreign media reporters body, the anti-corruption drive continues unabated as compa-
after the closing session of the National People’s Congress and nies and public service groups supervised by the Communist
in response to questions about anti-corruption, Premier Li Party of China (CPC) and government departments will also
Keqiang was quoted as saying: “China is a country ruled by face a new round of top-level disciplinary inspections, Xinhua
law, no matter who you are, regardless of rank, there is equality reported. Anti-graft measures set by the CPC and disciplinary
before the law. For those who have violated party discipline, it inspections by superior authorities have played a great role in
is necessary according to the law, to be severely disciplined and uncovering and correcting misconducts.8
punished”5.
“Over the past two years, central inspection teams have
For the corrupt and for corruption, Premier Li said, China covered Party and government departments at the provincial
has “zero tolerance.” He declared that “corruption is the natural level. Next, we will focus on organizations supervised by cen-
enemy of the people’s government”5. tral authorities,” Wang Ying, a senior official with the central
In July 2014, Xinhua reported that China had launched its
Fox Hunt operation, targeting corrupt officials and suspects of
40
There is still a lot of work to be done in this area, both in terms economic crimes who have fled the country. Fox Hunt’s goal:
of designing effective institutions and implementing them “block the last route of retreat” for corrupt officials after the
forcefully in reality. 47 country’s crackdown narrows the space for abuse of power. The
hunt netted 288 suspects, including 21 who had been at large
Based on the three-stage theory of Xi’s anti-corruption cam- for more than a decade, and 84 from developed countries such
paign, the success of this second stage eventually will lead to the as the U.S., Canada, Japan and Belgium. An ultimatum was is-
third stage: “do not even think about engaging in corruption.” sued – December 1, 2014 -- for escaped economic crimes sus-
This endeavor is fundamentally about changing China’s polit- pects, mostly corrupt former government officials, to give them-
ical culture - much more difficult than changing institutions. selves up in exchange for lenient sentences.
To address this problem, one related policy reform— Xinhua noted the success of the operation as “a positive sign
perhaps the most significant personnel reform after the 18th that the legal system and rule of law have been greatly improved
Party Congress—was also adopted on the same day. The in China, with many countries strengthening cooperation
essence of this new reform is to make sure that leading cadres and coordination with China on law enforcement.” Media re-
of the Party can be both promoted and demoted. Although this ports noted that President Xi Jinping referred to hunting for
might sound like a normal policy in other countries, in China economic crimes suspects overseas and recovering embezzled
it is usually the case that party leaders, once they have reached a money on various occasions during trips overseas, in a bid to
high rank, cannot be demoted for their incompetence or policy strengthen law enforcement cooperation with other countries
failures. They could be removed from their posts, but their rank such as when visiting Australia, New Zealand, Fiji or attend-
would stay with them, thus entitling them to the same benefits ing the G20 Summit in Brisbane. China has also helped forge
– medical and otherwise – that they’d have received before. The a cross-border law enforcement network to strengthen transna-
mission, for Xi, obviously is to eliminate those officials who are tional anti-corruption cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region,
against reforms and are corrupted and incompetent. 47 which was adopted by APEC leaders during the November
2014 summit in Beijing.6
Whether or not Xi’s new anti-corruption and personnel re-
forms will succeed, of course, remains to be seen. If they can Closer to home, the anti-corruption campaign continued
effectively implement these reforms, perhaps we can expect a in November 2014 when China’s deputy Procurator-General
much cleaner and more effective governance system in China Qiu Xueqiang announced that China will establish a new anti-
by 2020. graft body to further increase pressure on corrupt officials.7
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Mr. Qiu said that the
While observers ponder on the benefits or unintended plan for a new anti-graft agency was put forward by the Party
negative consequences of the anti-corruption campaign, committee of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) and
what remains obvious, just judging based on these recent was approved by the central authority. A vice-ministerial level,
developments alone, is that Mr. Wang Qishan, under President full-time member of the procuratorial committee will hold a
Xi Jinping’s leadership, remains fully committed to his role and concurrent post as head of the new anti-graft agency, Mr. Qiu
to carrying out his mission in making a corruption-free China added. According to Xinhua, China had established the anti-
come true. corruption bureau under the SPP in 1995 but after almost 20
years of development, the bureau has struggled to meet the
Anti-Corruption Campaign: Background demands for anti-corruption work. Mr. Qiu promised that the
new agency will be “better organized and better able to help
(This section “Anti-Corruption Campaign” is incorporated from the SPP handle major cases and break institutional obstacles” 7.
our 2015 White Paper.)
In addition to tightened scrutiny from a new anti-graft
In March 2014, while meeting with foreign media reporters body, the anti-corruption drive continues unabated as compa-
after the closing session of the National People’s Congress and nies and public service groups supervised by the Communist
in response to questions about anti-corruption, Premier Li Party of China (CPC) and government departments will also
Keqiang was quoted as saying: “China is a country ruled by face a new round of top-level disciplinary inspections, Xinhua
law, no matter who you are, regardless of rank, there is equality reported. Anti-graft measures set by the CPC and disciplinary
before the law. For those who have violated party discipline, it inspections by superior authorities have played a great role in
is necessary according to the law, to be severely disciplined and uncovering and correcting misconducts.8
punished”5.
“Over the past two years, central inspection teams have
For the corrupt and for corruption, Premier Li said, China covered Party and government departments at the provincial
has “zero tolerance.” He declared that “corruption is the natural level. Next, we will focus on organizations supervised by cen-
enemy of the people’s government”5. tral authorities,” Wang Ying, a senior official with the central
In July 2014, Xinhua reported that China had launched its
Fox Hunt operation, targeting corrupt officials and suspects of
40
