Officials' sideline interests

SOME 80,000 GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HAVE been found to hold senior positions in either State-owned or private enterprises, which means they get extra payment from these enterprises while they are paid as government employees. Of the total, some 50,000 have now quit their second job as required by Party and government rules.

This is a sign that the anti-graft campaign is going deeper to deal with the various forms of abuse of power besides the direct taking of bribes and the embezzling of public money.

For government officials, it is easy to take a second job as a director on the board of a company directly under their auspices. Some government leaders even act as chairman of the board of directors of corporations as a second job. Three former vice-governors of Northeast China's Jilin province were found to hold such senior positions with local State-owned firms.