Top official bolsters Shanxi's anti-graft efforts

A senior anti-graft official has been appointed deputy head of the Discipline Inspection Commission in corruption-plagued Shanxi, the provincial government announced on Thursday.

Chi Yaoyun was previously head of the Third Inspection Bureau at the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China. He has been appointed executive deputy secretary of Shanxi's provincial anti-graft department.

The move is seen as bolstering the leadership of the department as it seeks to clean up rampant corruption in the coal-rich province.

Chi's predecessor, Yang Senlin, was charged with bribery in July. Yang was formerly the right-hand man of Jin Daoming, who worked as head of the Shanxi anti-graft watchdog from August 2006 to February 2011. Jin was investigated in February while serving as deputy head of Shanxi People's Congress.

Seven provincial-level officials have been accused of corruption in Shanxi since the nationwide anti-graft campaign started in late 2012. They include five members of the standing committee of the CPC Shanxi Provincial Committee. Of the 34 provincial-level administrative districts in China, Shanxi has been hit most by corruption cases.

At least nine disciplinary officials have been investigated this year, including four incumbent or former leaders of the province.

The shake-up in Shanxi's leadership began in February. Scores of senior officials were placed under investigation by the national anti-graft watchdog for "serious violations of discipline and law", a euphemism for corruption. They included former deputy governor Ren Runhou.

A third of the members of Shanxi's top decision-making body and a total of more than 40 officials in the province have been investigated for corruption since the nationwide anti-graft campaign began.

A top Party official was appointed in Shanxi in September, marking the start of news efforts to clean up the government. Since Wang Rulin took office, 15 officials have been placed under investigation.

At a meeting on Tuesday, Wang severely criticized continuing corruption by some officials, saying it went against the headwind of national efforts to prevent corruption and describing it as a "shock". He said there would be zero tolerance of misconduct, and encouraged officials to devote themselves to the rule of law.

Two months ago, Huang Xiaowei, a former vice-minister at the Ministry of Supervision, was appointed a member of the standing committee of the CPC Shanxi Provincial Committee and secretary of the provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Xue Lan, a professor of public policy and management at Tsinghua University, said abundant coal resources and related major investment projects in Shanxi bred serious corruption. He said the leadership change will greatly improve the efficiency of the anti-graft efforts.

Collusion between government officials and businesses has developed a profit-sharing mechanism in coal exploration, Xue said. Government officials approved mine projects, then used their administrative powers to solicit bribes.