Known for taking bribery, embezzlement and other illegal activities, Mu Suixin and Ma Xiangdong, respectively the former mayor and executive vice-mayor of Shenyang, Liaoning's provincial capital, were both sentenced to death late last year after about two years of investigation, with Mu on a two-year suspension of the execution.

Fourteen other officials who were involved in the corruption case were also brought to justice.

Mu and Ma's case had seriously damaged Shenyang's image, and frustrated the inflow of overseas investment as some overseas enterprises hesitated to invest in this city.

During the three consecutive three years from 1998 to 2000, the annual overseas investment in the city was only about US$1 billion.

More seriously, the overseas investment to Shenyang fell sharply in the first half of 2001, and even plummeted by 46 percent in the worst month.

The removal of those corrupted officials has greatly reassured investors, and the overseas investment has been rebounding rapidly in Shenyang since the second half of 2001.

According to latest statistics, Shenyang totally attracted about US$1.28 billion in overseas investment during 2001, with a growth rate 20 percent higher than that in 2000.

The whole province invited a total of US$3.31 billion of overseas investment last year, rising 22 percent over the previous year.

Experts say that Shenyang City and Liaoning Province -- one of China's major industrial bases, are still the popular choices for overseas investors.

The punishing of Mu and Ma has also helped promote local tourism. Last year, Liaoning totally received 740,000 overseas and 47 million domestic tourists, respectively up 21 percent and 10 percent over the previous year, with the overall tourist revenue rising to a record high of more than 30 billion yuan (US$ 3.6 billion).

With a total investment of 20 million yuan (US$ 2.4 million), the first phase project of the construction of Hunnan New District has been fully launched in Shenyang, which will enable the provincial capital to develop much faster into a prosperous international metropolis in northeast China.

Through intensified reforms, the large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises in Liaoning have improved their efficiency and provided pensions or unemployment insurance to all staffs.

Wang Weizhong, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Liaoning Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, said the crackdown on those corrupted officials have created favorable conditions for accelerating the economic and social progress in the province.

He stressed that economy can never be on a healthy and steady way if corruption was not checked.

Mu and Ma had arbitrarily granted a large area of urban land in Shenyang to real estate agencies free of charge or at extraordinary low prices, which had caused great damage to the city's economy.

The fees for granting land-use rights in Shenyang was only about only 70 million yuan (US$ 8.4 million) in the year 2000, which is even less than the normal amount for a smaller medium-sized city.

Chen Zhenggao, the mayor of Shenyang now, said the government should greatly intensify the reform and supervision over the work of approving infrastructure projects and granting land-use rights so as to avoid any possible chances for corruption.

The fees collected for granting land-use rights in Shenyang amounted to 1 billion yuan (US$ 120 million) in 2001, surging more than 10 times over 2000, and the government revenue also increased sharply to 8.08 billion yuan (US$ 970 million) from 6 billion (US$ 724 million) in the previous year.

The case of Mu and Ma has brought a strong impact on the officials at various levels in the province, discipline inspection officials said, adding over 300 officials had turned in cashes others bribed to them during the process of investigating the case.

Moreover, Liaoning has intensified the reforms on selection and promotion of local officials at various levels, which is expected to effectively prevent the corruptive deals between power and money as in Mu and Ma's case.

Currently, before appointing any official above the county level, local governments in Liaoning will publicize the resume and credits of the candidate to solicit opinions and receive supervision from the public.

Early this year, Dalian, a coastal city in the province promulgated a series of stipulations to intensify supervision over the work of selecting and promoting officials.

Any leader will be called to account if he is found abusing his power or neglecting his supervisory duties in selecting or promoting new officials, according to the stipulations.

( February 6, 2002)