D ecember 4 was the People's Republic of China's inaugural Constitution Day, established to commemorate the enactment of the 4th edition of the Constitution on Dec 4, 1982.

A day after the event, the Party's anti-corruption authority announced the corruption crimes allegedly committed by the "big tiger" Zhou Yongkang. His case was subsequently handed over to the judiciary. The timing was significant. It showed the central authorities are determined to govern by the law.

Various reports reveal that the central government is working on establishing a new anti-corruption bureau to systematically manage the allocation of power.

The new department, being formed with a view to improving the system of punishing and preventing corruption, is reportedly to be directed by top-level officials, who will have the authority to work without interference. Compared with the previous bureau founded in 1995 - a bureau-level structure subordinate to the Supreme People's Procuratorate - it is thought that the new bureau will be led by vice-ministerial level officials, half an administrative level higher than before.

The most significant obstacle to anti-corruption on the mainland is caused by multi-governance. Other than the anti-corruption bureau, various departments and organizations are also entitled to execute corruption-related investigations. These include, to name but a few; the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention, the National Audit Office. As a result, naturally, the power distribution is scattered and over-complicated, resulting either in no single department willing to take full responsibility for a case, or many departments all examining a case at the same time.

Further, with the intervention of regional influence, graft cases are handled more in a manner known as the rule of man rather than the rule of law. This gives the justice system a bad name of gross inefficiency at public expense.

Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is well-known for its successful anti-corruption department. It derives its success from two main factors: the complete legal system, and secondly, being directly accountable to the Chief Executive without intervention from other departments or officials. Over the years, ICAC has accumulated a wealth of experience, from which the new bureau of the central government could benefit.

In its early years - in the 1970s - the ICAC was not known for its success. Corruption was common at that time, particularly among the police. Therefore when ICAC decided to clean up corruption in the police force, there were desertions, suicides, and even clashes between governmental departments.

By resolving each case with aplomb, ICAC won the support of Hong Kong people by determination, courage and perseverance. Subsequently Hong Kong became a largely corruption-free society, where ICAC operates smoothly.

From my point of view, if the new organization is to achieve the same levels of success as the ICAC, it must be given more power to conduct investigations. The central government should consider upgrading it to a level directly accountable to the top leaders, instead of having to go through other departments.

The scale of investigations should be expanded to include all national and personal enterprises, rather than focusing solely on civil servants. Moreover, the organization would have to take on the task of running a publicity campaign in favor of honesty and incorruptibility.

By doing this, I believe the country will more quickly get on track fighting corruption using the law.

The central government could learn from ICAC experience. ICAC commissioners could be invited to share with their central and regional counterparts about how they successfully handled corruption cases. Public confidence in the central government will grow once more corruption cases are solved. When every citizen in the country gets involved in the process of fighting corruption, instead of leaving it to a single or several government departments, we will be closer to realizing the aspirations of an efficient, integral system of government.

The author is vice-president of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong.

(HK Edition 12/19/2014 page7)