China toughens punishment for bribery as part of anti-corruption crackdown

Days after President Xi Jinping exhorted people to maintain personal integrity, China on Friday amended its criminal law to punish those giving bribes to officials as part of its anti-corruption drive.

An amendment to the Criminal Law was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.

The amended law, which will take effect on March 1, has intensified the fight against bribe-givers, stating that those offering bribes repeatedly, to multiple people, or parties involved in major national projects should be harshly punished.

People who give bribes to staff members of supervisory, administrative, or judicial departments, or bribe in fields such as environment, finance, safety production, drug and food, social insurance, rescue relief, education, or healthcare, also need to face severe punishment, the law added.

On December 4, President Xi warned senior ruling Communist Party officials to maintain personal integrity, set strict rules for relatives to keep them away from corruption and refrain from blindly following foreign examples and reckless actions.

The top officials must set strict rules for their family members, relatives, and staff workers around them when it comes to the efforts against corruption, Xi told a meeting of the Politburo of the ruling Communist Party of China.

Since he took over the leadership of the party in 2012, Xi has been continuing with the anti-corruption campaign, in which, according to official media accounts, over a million officials, including several top military generals, were punished.

The intensity of the campaign also attracted criticism that Xi made effective use of it to silence his critics and rivals within the party and the government.

Meanwhile, the Standing Committee of the NPC, which is restricted to a smaller number of legislators, also announced that the annual session of the Parliament will be held on March 5, next year.

The NPC, along with the national advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) every year will hold their annual sessions to conduct legislative business for about a fortnight.

During the session NPC, regarded as the rubber stamp parliament for its routine approval of the proposals of CPC, will pass the annual budget for the country, including the defence expenditure, besides the work report of Premier Li Qiang.