Nanyang supervisory commission to fight corruption

The establishment of a supervisory commission for Henan province's city of Nanyang has been rapidly sped up with the election of a new leader, Henan Daily reported.

The commission elected Wang Yi, the secretary of the municipal watchdog, as its head during the sixth plenary session of the 5th Nanyang People's Congress on Jan 7.

The setting up of the commission marks a vital step towards the reform of Nanyang's supervisory system, Wang said.

The commission is the first of its kind among cities in Henan. Its three main duties will be to supervise in a fair manner those who exercise public power, to conduct investigations, and to punish any illegal acts.

More specifically, it will supervise public servants in their work by looking out for illegal activities such as graft, misuse of authority, neglect of duty and wasteful public spending.

The commission will have the power to issue administrative penalties; and transfer suspected criminal cases to the procuratorate.

Furthermore, it will also have the means to carry out its duties through inquiries, searches, the freezing of assets and detentions.

There will be a 221 percent increase compared to previously in terms of the number of public servants that will be monitored. Now around 210,000 Nanyang public employees from the local government, procuratorate, People's congress and courts, will be under the commission's supervision.

China began piloting this all-level opening supervisory commission scheme in early 2017 to intensify the nation's anti-graft campaign. So far, Henan has had one city-level commission and five county-level commissions established, according to officials.