China's discipline watchdog targets graft in government-funded projects(1)

Backgrounder: A timeline of China's recent economic-stimulus measures

A timeline of China's macro-economic policy shifts over 30 years

  　BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's Party discipline watchdog Thursday vowed to put government-funded projects under scrutiny when the country is investing 4 trillion yuan to stimulate the economy.

"We would try to prevent corruption, when a project is tabled for review and approval, when the land is allocated to it, when a public bidding is held for contractors," said He Yong, deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), at a meeting here Thursday.

Besides government-funded ones, other projects with state investment would also be the top priority, he said.

The CCDI would issue a set of rules to regulate business activities and officials' work as soon as possible, he said. For instance, it would push local governments to publicize urban planning documents, which listed infrastructure projects to be implemented, and issue detailed rules to protect fair play in public bidding.

To curb graft in this field, discipline officers would also target commercial bribery, which has implicated officials.

They will establish a database specially for commercial bribery cases. A company involved in such cases would be excluded from any business, He said.

On Monday, the CCDI also issued a statement jointly with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Supervision, the Ministry of Finance and the National Audit Office to ensure close supervision on the stimulus package.

The statement said two dozen inspection teams will be sent to follow projects funded by the package.

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