The Paper:

The 19th and 20th CPC national congresses have made important arrangements targeting both those who take bribes and those who offer them, which has drawn extensive attention from society. I would like to ask, what progress has been made regarding this aspect?

Xiao Pei:

Corruption destroyed not only the political ecology but also the environment for economic development. Anti-corruption is conducive to cleansing political ecology as well as to improving the environment for economic development. The 19th and 20th CPC national congresses have made important arrangements targeting both those who take bribes and those who offer them.

The bribers' "preying" on officials to lure them and the bribe acceptors' trading power for money are the important reason for corruption continuing to happen. Only by cutting off the interest chain of "preying" and being willing to be "preyed on" can the soil for corruption be eradicated. The key to the bribery of leaders and officials lies in the rotting of Party character, the change of the original aspiration, and the corrupting of power. We should push forward coordinated action to ensure that officials dare not to, are denied the opportunity to, and have no wish to commit corruption. We will foster a cordial and clean relationship between government and business and make it the norm to target both those who take bribes and those who offer them.

Accepting bribes and offering bribes are two sides of the same story. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, discipline inspection and supervision departments nationwide have investigated and dealt with more than 63,000 bribe givers, and procuratorates nationwide have investigated and dealt with more than 36,000 bribe givers. To push ahead with targeting both those who take bribes and those who offer them, first, we should clarify key points of punishing bribery. We have listed five categories: one, those who have repeatedly offered bribes, offered huge bribes, or offered bribes to many people; two, Party members, officials, and state functionaries who engage in bribery; three, those who have offered bribes in important state work, key projects, and major projects; four, those who have offered bribes to fields like organizational personnel, law enforcement and judiciary, assistance and support for disaster relief, education and medical care; five, those who commit major business bribery.

Second, we need to rigorously investigate and deal with them in accordance with the law. The CCDI and the National Supervisory Commission, together with the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and other relevant departments, formulated the opinions on further targeting both those who take bribes and those who offer them. The Supervision Law of the People's Republic of China and its implementation regulations stipulate the punishment methods for bribers and the means to deal with the illegal gains from bribery.

Third, we will explore and implement the management system of the briber list. We will coordinate to use disciplinary, legal, administrative, economic, and other means to restrict the qualifications of enterprises and market access so as to make bribers pay their due prices.

We will further improve the precision and effectiveness of combating bribery in accordance with the arrangements of the 20th CPC National Congress. We will not only make thorough investigations into briberies but also recover the money obtained from briberies. At the same time, we will ensure the legitimate operation of enterprises, protect the legitimate rights and interests of the people involved and relevant enterprises, and achieve the unity of good political, disciplinary and social effects.