A new state department will be established to prevent corruption, a top official from the central discipline inspection commission revealed to the Beijing Times yesterday.

Xia Zanzhong, a Deputy Secretary with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and member of National People's Congress, informed the paper that the Office of Central Institutional Organization Commission has approved the proposal to establish the State Corruption Prevention Bureau.

While there are still no specific details on how and when the bureau will begin operations, previously contested issues such as its functions, divisions, and staff were resolved during the yearlong examination and approval process, the paper reports. 

Gan Yisheng, also a Deputy Secretary, has said that to establish this state bureau is to earnestly undertake the obligation set by United Nations Convention Against Corruption, and to learn from the international community about effective corruption prevention techniques.

During the ongoing sessions of the NPC and CPPCC held in Beijing, standing member of the CPPCC and vice minister of China's Ministry of Supervision, Chen Changzhi told the press that the corruption-prevention bureau will officially be established this year.

The main functions of the bureau will be promoting anti-corruption campaigns, educating people on corruption laws, improving officials' ability to locate corruption, as well as building, improving, and innovating the current system.

The State Corruption Prevention Bureau will be placed as a part of Ministry of Supervision, but which specific central department will lead and direct the bureau has not been decided yet. After its establishment, local corruption-prevention departments will also be formed gradually.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Ministry of Supervision has also co-led the law-making research on a related bill with some members of the NPC, Xia said. The highly anticipated Law of Honest and Clean Government is still in the research phase, with no set date for submission to the NPC, he added.

(China.org.cn by Zhang Rui March 13, 2007)