China Focus: Pilot supervisory reform sees key progress

China's three new provincial supervisory commissions have all had their leaderships elected by local legislatures, marking key progress in the pilot supervision reform aimed at strengthening anti-graft efforts.

On Friday, local lawmakers elected Zhang Shuofu and Ren Zemin as directors of the supervisory commissions in Beijing and Zhejiang Province respectively, at the close of the annual session of local legislatures.

Earlier this week, Shanxi elected Ren Jianhua as the director of the supervisory commission of the coal-rich province. Deputy directors and members of the Shanxi commission were also appointed. The three provincial supervisory commission chiefs also head the local discipline watchdogs of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Beijing, Shanxi and Zhejiang are the first three in the country to pilot the reform, which was endorsed by the country's top legislature in December.

The commissions integrate the supervision departments and corruption prevention bureaus, as well as the divisions for handling bribery, dereliction of duty and prevention of duty-related crimes under the people's procuratorates.

The Shanxi Provincial Supervisory Commission, which held its first meeting on Thursday, shared the same office building with the Shanxi discipline inspection commission of the CPC.

Shanxi shocked the country when a spate of corruption cases came to light. In 2014, seven provincial-level officials were put under investigation, along with hundreds of lower level officials. Its economy also faced difficulties amid restructuring, with its GDP growth estimated at about 4.5 percent last year, lower than most other provinces or regions.

"The new commission would to a large extent integrate supervisory power, which would be of great importance to rebuilding the image of Shanxi Province," said Wang Jianzhen, a local entrepreneur and also a deputy to the provincial legislature.

Wang said he was confident about the prospect of the supervisory commission system.

"The new system, which helps restrict exercise of power, will enable companies to deal with government departments in a more transparent way and, therefore, better serve the economy of the province," echoed Yuan Sen, a Shanxi lawmaker and technician from a local aluminum plant.

Provincial-level supervisory commissions will be set up by the end of March, and prefectural- and county- level commissions will be established before June in the three pilot locations, according to the country's top discipline watchdog.

To advance the reform, Beijing, Shanxi and Zhejiang set up working groups for improving the supervision system reform last year, which were headed by Party chiefs of the three places.

Under the pilot scheme, supervisory commissions are authorized to supervise, investigate and impose punishment on all public employees in the three pilot regions.

Zhu Lijia, professor with the Chinese Academy of Governance, said multiple means are needed to realize full-coverage supervision over all employees with public power.

The databases on public employees should be set up as soon as possible, suggested Zhu, who also lauded the effective supervision by the masses.

China has been stepping up its anti-corruption efforts since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, targeting both senior and grassroots level officials. In addition, the country sets great store by establishing stricter and complete systems to put power in a cage of regulations.

So far, the spread of corruption has been effectively contained and the battle against corruption has gained crushing momentum.

Improving supervisory system reform is a major task of the country and a top-level design that will push the modernization of state governance, according to Yang Si, procurator of the Shanxi People's Procuratorate. Endi