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China’s corruption watchdog moves to crackdown on bribe-givers

  • Figures from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection say more than 5,000 people were detained for offering corrupt payments last year
  • Historically, people paying bribes could expect lighter sentences than those accepting them, but now they risk being added to a blacklist

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Those caught giving bribes usually recieved lighter sentences that those accepting the payments. Photo: Shutterstock

Chinese anti-corruption police detained more than 5,000 people accused of paying bribes last year, according to figures from the anti-corruption watchdog.

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In 2021, anti-corruption agencies in the country detained 5,006 people for giving bribes and transferred 2,822 to prosecutors for trial.

The figures were included in a report made public by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Party’s top disciplinary watchdog, last week.

The report reviewed last year’s anti-corruption campaign and this year’s proposed tasks and targets for 2022, including increasing efforts to combat bribery and establish a black list of those offering corrupt payments.
Under President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive, both the Supervision Law and the ninth Criminal Law Amendment have increased the penalties for offering bribes.

“The number of bribe-giving cases [we] handled from January to November 2021 increased significantly, involving a total of 2,717 people, up 18.3 per cent compared to 2020,” Shi Weizhong, director of the third procuratorial office of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, told Procuratorial Daily.

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