China's state-assets manager gets even tougher on graft

BEIJING - Corruption remains a big problem at China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) with 154 officials suspected of graft last year, the top state-assets authority said Monday.

The cases were handed over to prosecutors and more than 900 million yuan ($147 million) of economic losses incurred were recovered, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).

Commission chairman Zhang Yi said that corruption and other illegal practices such as embezzlement and the squandering of state assets are typical problems.

"From these cases, we can see that corruption is still out of control," Zhang said at an anti-corruption conference targeting central government-administered SOEs in Beijing.

A total of 112 central SOEs are currently under the supervision of the SASAC.

"We must recognize that the war against corruption is a long-term task. We must maintain our determination and confidence in clamping down corruption," Zhang said.

Jiang Jiemin, former head of the SASAC, was expelled from the Communist Party of China for serious discipline and law violations in June last year.