The past September will be remembered for its landmark significance in the history of China's judicial system, as it saw several senior officials, for instance former Chongqing leader Bo Xilai, fall from grace and be sentenced to jail.

As the court trials were settled, a common feature was unveiled -- many of the officials involved are what people call "naked" officials, or luo guan in Chinese, referring to those who stay in China alone while their spouses and children reside abroad.

Though naked officials are not necessarily corrupt, many indeed are as it is only a small step. It is imperative to look into this group and find ways to tackle potential problems.

Origin of the term and characteristics

The term "naked" officials originated from an online article "How many corrupt officials are 'naked'?" in 2008, in which the author described the then Shaanxi Province top official Pang Jiayu, who worked in China, while his wife and son had emigrated long before his trial. The author said he had intentionally used the word "naked" to address the attention the public was paying to this new trend in corruption.

Though there has been no officially recognized definition of the term so far, four characteristics have emerged: First, the officials are those who assume public posts, including civil servants, legislators, judicial officials, and those who work in state-owned enterprises or banks; second, they transfer their money outside mainland China; third, their spouses and children have emigrated or obtained permanent residency in foreign nations; and four, they stay in China on their own.

Naked officials are not necessarily corrupt, but once they are found to have violated the law, most of them try to make false declarations about their overseas property. If they are found guilty of taking bribes, corruption or embezzlement, they can easily flee abroad as their family is already there.

Figures

Though there is no official figure on naked officials and their practice per se, the severity of the problem is clear from related figures.

A working report of China's supreme procuratorate revealed that China caught 6220 runaway public officials (either in or outside China) and recovered a total of 55.3 billion yuan (about US$9.07 billion) from 2008 to 2012.

Corrupt officials who fled brought with them 6.3 million yuan on average (around US$103,000) in 2010, 5.8 million yuan (US$952,000) in 2011, and 4.8 million (US$788,000) in 2012.