Wu Guangqiang

    jw368@163.com

    ZHONG QIZHANG, a 42-year-old low-level cadre in Huidong County, Guangdong Province, was caught June 25 after being “missing” for three months. His disappearance caused panic among locals because he had left behind debts of more than 1.4 billion yuan (US$228.9 million), involving 82 debtors.

    Zhong, a Huidong native, was deputy director of the county governmen office. Previously, he served as a vice president of the Bank of China Huidong Branch and was the deputy director of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Office.

    His prominent position made him truly a powerful figure and debtors competed to lend him money. To businesspeople, powerful officials can guarantee profits if they look kindly on your business.

    In this case, Zhong personally borrowed more than 100 million yuan. For the remaining debt, Zhong acted as a guarantor. It was his status as a public official, though a junior one, that enabled him to borrow such a huge sum of money with mere “credit guarantee.”

    Chinese officials’ engagement in business is one of the primary forms of corruption that has caused intense social dissatisfaction and fueled social unrest because such officials are not only rent-seekers but family firm owners — they sweep the deck!

    On the one hand, public officials with monopolistic power, through granting a license or other interference, receive “rents” — additional earnings as a result of a restricted market.

    On the other hand, these officials, obsessed with the mindset of “rich water should be kept in one’s own fields,” go all out to do business either by doing it themselves or by pulling strings from behind their family members.

    Across the country, despite repeated Central Government orders to ban officials from engaging in business, there have been numerous disclosures of stunning cases involving officials and their families.

    In 2012, a young girl in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, owned 29 apartments. The ensuing investigation found that the girl’s father was the director of a housing management agency, and her mother and uncle were the owners of property development companies. The family dominated many local affordable housing projects.

    Su Rong, former vice chairperson of China’s top political consultative body, used his power to amass wealth through getting involved in land sales and project bidding. The son of Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of the State Food and Drug Administration, struck it rich invoking his father’s name. He controlled several shell companies and gained an unfair advantage by selling official approval documents, all secured through his father’s influence.

    The nation’s “biggest tiger” so far, Zhou Yongkang, formerly a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, was infamous for his wanton violation of laws, and his large family built up a rich empire under his protective umbrella.

    Zhou was sentenced to life in prison June 11 for accepting bribes, abusing his power and deliberately disclosing State secrets.

    The rampancy of officials in business has created an impression that the ban on officials’ engagement in business has been ineffective.

    In 1985, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council jointly issued a document that prohibited the engagement in business by the children or spouses of leading cadres at or above the county level.

    In 2010, the strictest restrictions on public official conduct was released. Specific clauses, dubbed “the 52 don’ts,” were designed to regulate officials’ conduct. However, the poor implementation of these bans has led to official corruption.

    Without effective legislation, enforceable and verifiable rules and regulations, severe punishments, public scrutiny and media supervision, prohibiting officials in business will remain empty talk.

    It’s time for the Central Government to make an institutional “cage” to curb graft.

    (The author is an English tutor and freelance writer.)