Would-be top officials must be transparent

People in the running for posts as senior officials in Beijing must now share a wealth of personal information, after changes were introduced to increase transparency and fight corruption.

Starting Friday, a total of 696 candidates competing for 241 posts in municipal and district governments in Beijing will be subject to a seven-day public review, according to an office set up by Beijing's organization department.

All of the candidates' names, dates of birth, academic degrees, current posts and applied-for positions have been published online, as part of the review.