Officials with emigrant spouses barred from promotion

Officials whose spouses and children have emigrated will be prevented from assuming top positions in Dongguan, said a senior official from the city in Guangdong province.

Such officials are publicly known as luoguan, or naked officials, because they are alone on the Chinese mainland.

"The move is to help fight corruption and prevent major Party and government officials from escaping abroad after taking bribes or committing serious crimes," said Zhen Ruichao, a member of the standing committee of the Dongguan committee of the Communist Party of China.

Also, officials will not be promoted if they are found to have violated family-planning policies, regardless of whether their second child was born at home or abroad, said Zhen, who is also head of the Dongguan Party committee's organization department.

Zhen was speaking at a work conference of his department on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, a local legislator was expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office for serious violations of Party discipline and laws.

Ou Lingao, deputy director of Dongguan's top legislative body, is suspected of taking substantial bribes in separate cases before he took his last job, the local Party commission for discipline inspection said.

In addition to?hongbao, or red envelopes that are used to give cash to officials, Ou is also believed to have accepted numerous gold items and expensive products, the local anti-graft body said.