China's top procurator vows clampdown on corruption, dereliction of duty

China's prosecuting organs will clamp down on corruption and dereliction of duty in 2007, particularly in relation to land acquisition, social security funds and government procurement.

The statement was made by Jia Chunwang, procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate at an ongoing national procurators' meeting.

State workers who take advantage of their power, such as the power to transfer personnel, interfere with judicial process or administrative licensing, to obtain illegal gains will be investigated and severely punished, according to the meeting.

Prosecuting organs will pay special attention to corruption and dereliction of duty relating to land acquisition, social security funds, medical care, government procurement, resource exploitation, the bankruptcy and restructuring of state-owned enterprises, which directly affect citizens' interests.

Prosecuting organs will make special efforts in 2007 to combat corruption and dereliction of duty relating to organized crime, so that civil servants do not act as a "protective umbrella" for lawless persons, said Jia.

Serious offences by judicial staff -- such as extracting confession by torture and illegally detaining criminal suspects -- will be strictly punished, said Jia.

To improve its investigative capacities, prosecuting organs will develop new techniques to collect information from the public reports and also enhance cooperation with international anti-corruption organizations.

Source: Xinhua