China's disciplinary inspection department recently reported full data for the first quarter, showing that local disciplinary inspection and supervision departments filed 220,000 cases and punished 185,000 people, covering cadres and grassroots personnel at all levels, including 14 provincial and ministerial cadres, 130,000 people in rural areas and enterprises, and 19,000 village cadres.
According to data released on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision on April 22nd, from January to March this year, disciplinary inspection and supervision agencies nationwide received 834,000 reports of complaints, handled 502,000 clues to problems, filed 220,000 cases, and disciplined 185,000 individuals. Those disciplined and investigated included cadres at all levels and grassroots personnel, including 14 provincial and ministerial-level officials, 130,000 personnel in rural areas and enterprises, and 19,000 village Party branch secretaries and village committee directors.
Summer grain subsidies and pesticide spending have become a "black hole"
Our reporter's online search revealed that two years ago, the official number of village officials involved in corruption was around 60,000 per year. Regarding this, Han Cuihua, a villager in Linyi, Shandong Province, told Radio Free Asia in an interview on Tuesday (the 13th) that while village Party secretaries or village directors hold low positions, they wield the power to distribute the village's wealth. In today's climate, where power is concerned, corruption is rampant. She said, "Village Party secretaries and village directors stand to gain enormous benefits. For example, there are rural summer grain subsidies and pesticide subsidies. There are also small airplanes rented for collective pesticide spraying, allegedly to help the people. However, the amount of pesticide sprayed is insignificant, with claims of three bottles being used, but only half a bottle is actually used. Some even use fake pesticides or no pesticide at all. The fees collected from farmers are then embezzled by village officials. Furthermore, the number of acres sprayed can be inflated."
Village officials are accused of being the “most direct perpetrators”
In some parts of China, village officials abuse their power to embezzle subsistence allowances. He Huiqin, a farmer in Anyang, Henan, told reporters, "There are still impoverished households in rural areas. For example, village officials embezzle subsidies for households receiving the minimum living allowance and the five guarantees. They also embezzle holiday gifts for households receiving the minimum living allowance. They also embezzle funds from farmers who have been relocated, dilapidated, or resettled, as well as funds from village collective land transfers, village construction projects, and even money from villagers' children enlisting in the military. Many people ask why rural officials embezzle so much, and I tell them they do embezzle a lot."
He Huiqin said that while corruption among provincial and ministerial officials requires specialized channels, corruption among village cadres is ubiquitous at the grassroots level. She continued, "Village officials are the most direct perpetrators of persecution against villagers in rural China."
Compared with the data from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in the first three quarters of last year, 77,000 current or former village party branch secretaries and village committee directors have been investigated in China, exceeding the total number of 61,000 in 2023, indicating that the corruption of grassroots cadres in rural China is becoming increasingly serious.
On April 20, the General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council jointly issued the revised "Regulations on the Integrity in the Performance of Duties by Rural Grassroots Cadres." These regulations prohibit the abuse of power to seek personal gain in projects, the disposal of collective assets, land transfers, agricultural subsidies, and subsistence allowance assessments. They also prohibit the acceptance of bribes or disguised "kickbacks" or "favors." They also prohibit the pursuit of improper benefits for relatives or individuals with whom they have a close relationship. They also explicitly prohibit the private disposal or appropriation of village collective property, and require transparency regarding the collective's "three assets" (funds, assets, and resources).
Newly revised regulations to prevent rural corruption
China Newsweek quoted the head of the Regulations Office of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission as saying that, with the evolving situation and tasks of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party and the evolving conditions of rural grassroots cadres, the Party Central Committee decided to revise and improve the Regulations. Wang Lifeng, a professor at the School of Administration at Jilin University, recently told the weekly, comparing the pilot Regulations with the new ones, that the Regulations can be considered a sharp institutional weapon against "micro-corruption" among rural grassroots cadres and a crucial foundation for institutional anti-corruption efforts at the grassroots level.
Gu Dahai, a villager from Xinjie Town, Taixing, Jiangsu Province, told this station that local village officials are profiting illegally through various projects, but residents have struggled to find evidence. "The village party secretary has profited from any project involving village officials, including greening projects, village road construction, river maintenance, and falsified farmland figures. In our village, there aren't many ways for village officials to make money, but in some wealthy villages, village officials participate in business operations and reap significant illegal profits."
70% of those disciplined come from the grassroots
The report shows that over 70% of those disciplined were at the grassroots level, in rural areas and enterprises. Compared to officials who accept bribes, authorities have been less active in investigating and punishing bribe-givers. According to official reports, in the first quarter, 7,027 individuals were investigated and punished for bribery, and 954 were transferred to the procuratorate.
