Corruption Legislation and Socio‐Economic Change in the People's Republic of China
| Pages | 116-128 |
| Published date | 01 April 1996 |
| Date | 01 April 1996 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb025766 |
| Author | Michael Levi,Fangmin Ruan |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
Journal of Financial Crime — Vol. 4 No. 2 — Analysis
Corruption Legislation and Socio-Economic
Change in the People's Republic of China
Michael Levi and Fangmin Ruan
INTRODUCTION
China has a bad reputation — justified or not —
for corruption: in a recent Transparency Inter-
national survey, it was listed by US and European
businesspeople as one of the three most corrupt
countries in Asia, though its ranking fell slightly in
1996.1
A national survey revealed that ordinary
Chinese regard corruption as the most serious
problem after inflation, though 52 per cent
expressed doubt that the Government could do
anything about it.2 In 1995, in Beijing alone, 1,085
cases of corruption were uncovered. In 1996, in
the Working Report of the Supreme Peoples's Pro-
curatorate, the Chief Procurator Zhang Siqing
observed:3
'Last year, the number of officials occupying the
post of county leader and above against whom
proceedings were initiated reached 2,262, the
highest figure in recent years, 27.9 per cent
more than in 1994. Influential figures involved
included the embezzlement and misappropria-
tion case involving the former Vice-Mayor of
Beijing City, Wang Baosen; the bribery case of
Ou Yangde (former Vice-Director of the
People's Congress of Guang Dong Province);
and the bribery case of the former five principal
leaders of Tai An City of Shang Dong Province,
including the former Party Secretary Hu Jiaxue.
In 504 cases, the amount of money involved
exceeded RmB lm yuan [approximately
£80,000].'
According to official statistics, in the period 1991
to October 1995, the number of prosecutions at all
levels initiated for corruption, bribery and mis-
appropriation of public funds reached 460,000.
The number of defendants holding the post of
county leader and above reached 6,200: of these,
291 were prefecture leaders or other equivalent
heads,
and five were provincial leaders, ministers
or other equivalent heads. Over this period, the
sum of RmB 8bn yuan (£660,000 at 12 yuan to the
pound sterling) of direct economic losses has been
retrieved for the state through criminal proceed-
ings.4
The Chinese Government claims that it has
tried its best to combat corruption, but the effect
can be hard to discern and the image problem
remains, with considerable potential effects on
inward investment as well as global prestige.
Although the absence or 'inadequacy' of law
does not directly
cause
misbehaviour, our conten-
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