Communist Party officials register relatives' job details

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) announced Tuesday that 185,940 party offficals have registered job information about their spouses and children since 2007, the South China Morning Post reported. The CCDI touts the news as proof of further improvements in party self-discipline methods, but analysts say the disclosures are just a minor step. The registrations are the result of a pilot program launched in selected provinces in 2004. Officials were required to provide information regarding family members’ employment and state whether such employment created conflicts of interest. The collected data is not available publicly, however, with the exception of Sanya in Hainan and Hunan province. Information on national-level officials has not been released, although CCDI reported that nearly 500 officials had "issues" regarding the employment of family members and 82 were punished for violating regulations. The CCDI also cut overseas travel of 18,461 officials suspected of abusing travel privileges. Currently only ministerial-level officials and above have to report family members’ income.