Government officials in the southern province of Guangdong have been asked to report to the public about their personal property asset to curb corruption, said Saturday's China Daily.

"Government official's corruption, which is almost always related to unidentified property, has been one of the top concerns of many citizens in recent year," Huang Ting, chairman of the Guangdong provincial research society for economic reform was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

He said it was of great importance to make officials assets public, to better prevent corruption and improve government transparency.

Before the new rules came to light, two senior officials of Guangdong were investigated for alleged serious violations of disciplinary regulations.

They are Chen Shaoji, the former chairman of the Guangdong provincial committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Xu Zongheng, former mayor of the boomtown Shenzhen.

Earlier media reports claimed both of them had allegedly built up sizable portfolios of apparently illegal properties.

In 1995 and 2001, the central government and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China had issued two regulations, urging officials to declare their income, but these were limited to official's salary and subsidies, and the information was unavailable to the public.

The latest declaration would put official's personal assets under better supervision, Huang said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2009)