What’s new: China’s top judicial and discipline authorities have ramped up crackdowns on both those taking and offering bribes, newly released work reports show. This follows an apparent shift in focus in September to target bribe payers with a plan to get them blacklisted, as authorities had largely targeted those accepting bribes previously.
In 2021, Chinese prosecutors, along with other authorities including the National Supervisory Commission, accused 9,083 people of accepting bribes and 2,689 people of offering bribes, up 21.5% year-on-year and 16.6% year-on-year, respectively, according to the work report (link in Chinese) published by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
The prosecuted criminals include former provincial-level officials Wang Fuyu and Wang Like, both of whom were found to have accepted large amounts of bribes.
In addition, Chinese courts concluded 23,000 cases in 2021 involving 27,000 people, including those linked to corruption, bribery and dereliction of duty, according to the work report published by the Supreme People’s Court.
The top court said it would carry out joint investigations into those taking and offering bribes, vowing to recover illegal gains from bribe payers, according to the report.
The background: The work reports were submitted Tuesday to the ongoing session of the country’s top legislature for deliberation — one of the annual two political meetings known as “Two Sessions” — and amid a long-running anti-graft campaign that has ensnared millions of officials since 2012.
Contact reporter Wang Xintong (xintongwang@caixin.com) and editor Bertrand Teo (bertrandteo@caixin.com)
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