Caijing July 23, 2007

China's Supreme People's Court and People's Procuratorate have issued new bribery rules aimed at stopping widespread corruption. The rules broaden the definition of bribery to include payoffs to "people with special relationships" to public officials.

In the latest issue of Caijing magazine, Wang Zhenchuan, China's deputy public prosecutor, said in a interview that these "special relations" include relatives as well as mistress of accused officials. The new rules also describe 10 activities that are equivalent to bribery, such as real estate and car loans that do not include ownership transfers.

Before the rules were issued, the Communist Party's Disciplinary Committee drafted similar regulations with a 30-day grace period that would let guilty party members turn themselves in. This week's Oriental Outlook cover story deals with the party's focus on corruption.

Other Caijing feature stories concern how to cool down China's hot economy and the private equity fund.