China steps up fight against corruption

China is finally stepping up to fight corruption, which has been rated as the number one problem for progress. The country issued the first ever white paper on the nation's anti-graft efforts, Xinhua, the official news agency of the government said.

China's anti-corruption watchdog found 106,000 officials guilty of corruption in 2009, 2.5 percent more than the year before.

From January to November, the Party's discipline watchdogs investigated 119,000 graft cases, resulting in 113,000 people being punished, of whom 4,332 were prosecuted, according to Wu Yuliang, secretary general of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of Communist Party of China, Xinhua said.

Corruption has long haunted the Chinese people, pervading almost all areas of life. It is considered the number one problem, ahead of issues such as piracy or steep pollution in the country.

The report issued by the government states it will also curb excessive spending on official events, among other things.

However, the task of curbing corruption is complicated and strenuous, the report said.

The country is also signing international exchanges and seeking co-operation with other countries and regions. China has signed 106 judicial assistance treaties with 68 countries and regions, as well as established the China-U.S. Joint Liaison Group on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation Consultations with Canada.

The move will be welcomed by many investors into China who often get bogged down with the red tape as well as corruption in the country.

According to Wikipedia, China ranked 72 of 179 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.

Graft, bribery, embezzlement, backdoor deals, nepotism, patronage and statistical falsification were common, the website stated.

The white paper is the latest in a series of attempts by the Chinese government to crack down corruption. China sentenced seven people to death for tax fraud in 2001, in what could be the biggest corruption case in the Communist era, according to a report by CNN.

Several other government officials and senior party members have been sentenced to prison in just the past decade.

Earlier this year, former President Chen Shui-bian, who served as the president between 2000 and 2008, and his wife Wu Shu-jen began serving his sentence for two corruption cases during his terms of office.