政商朋友圈 (zheng shang peng you quan): Circle of friends among officials and businessmen

Recent corruption investigations have shown that there are many businessmen linked with corrupt officials. Corrupt officials frequently have a circle of business friends, and the fall of a corrupt official usually exposes many businessmen who have acted illegally. Such kind of collusion has drawn the attention of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Behind corrupt officials there are always businessmen, who in effect become "cash machines" for these officials. The former mayor of Nanjing Ji Jianye, for instance, was convicted of taking bribes from seven businessmen, five of whom had been his friends for more than two decades. Former Henan vice-governor Qin Yuhai was accused of spending 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) on photography, which was all paid for by businessmen.

The circle of friends between officials and businessmen has actually become a trap of temptation. Some officials make friends with businessmen for illegal personal interests, while businessmen take advantage of these officials' administrative power to gain illegal business advantages. The so-called circle of friends is actually a channel for trading power for money. The relationship between these officials and businessmen is not friendship, but a community based on trade between power and money.