There have been growing calls from people in this southern city for local officials to make public details of the property they own.

"We elected these public servants and therefore we have the right to know what properties they own," said netizen Fan Fu on the website of the People's Daily.

Mindy Nei, a senior accountant with a local IT company, told China Daily: "I wonder how these public servants, who are on relatively low salaries, can afford to buy such big houses and send their children to study and live overseas.

"How come they are so rich? A lot of people, including me, really want to know the answer."

Fan and Nei's comments are echoed by Hong Qiaojun, a deputy to the National People's Congress.

"The public should be able to scrutinise the financial affairs of government officials. By reporting their salaries and providing details of the properties they own they will be helping to establish an effective mechanism to fight corruption," Hong said.

"Once we have this level of transparency, it will be easy for both the government and the people to see which officials are corrupt and which are not. This is not only the most effective way of fighting corruption, but also the most economical, because it would cost almost nothing," he said.

Zhang Xianliang, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference agreed with Hong, saying that, "putting details of public servants' properties in the open was the best antiseptic".

"What people hate most is corruption among government officials ... We should serve the people and work out as soon as possible an effective mechanism for use by public servants to report details of their property ownership," Zhang said.

Public servants, especially those in senior positions, should also report details of the incomes earned and properties owned by their family members, Zhang said, adding that such a ruling should become part of the law governing China's public servants.

"At the moment we do not have such a law, so there is a big legal loophole, which provides the ideal environment for social ills such as bribery and corruption to flourish," Zhang said.

Qiao Xinsheng, a law professor at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, said that in addition to making public details of the properties they own, the purchase transactions should also be "checkable".

"People should be able to trace the incomes of public servants," Qiao said.

Source: China Daily