Over the past four years, Chinese police arrested 3,583 fugitive suspects accused of crimes committed at work, with more from state enterprises than government departments, according to an exhibition on the punishment and prevention of job-related corruption.

The exhibition lists eight cases of runaway officials that have already been extradited back to China, including Lu Wanli, former transport chief of southwestern Guizhou, Yu Zhendong, a former bank head, and Yuan Tongshun, former general manager of a state-owned enterprise in the coastal city of Dalian.

Chinese procuratorial organs dealt with more than 169,000 duty-related criminal cases during this period, involving 196,000 people, with a total economic loss of 23.8 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion), according the exhibition at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution.

There were 52,000 suspects from state-owned enterprises who committed crimes by taking advantage of duty, 10,000 more than those from government departments, it shows.

Thirty-six percent of the cases were mainly related to graft, 27 percent to bribes, and 15 percent to appropriation of public funds, and most cases were about land sales or project approval, according to the exhibition.

Sponsored by the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), the exhibition displays more than 700 photos and more than 120 objects that tell about 72 major duty criminal cases, including 16 ministerial and provincial-level officials such as former Shanghai Party chief Chen Liangyu and former food and drug watchdog chief Zheng Xiaoyu.

Thirteen ministerial-level departments present their experience on the prevention of job-related corruption at the exhibition.

The SPP attributed the cause of rampant corruption mainly to inadequate management and supervision, says the exhibition, which began on last Wednesday and would last through Sept. 13.

It said 14 out of the 16 top officials found guilty of "serious corruption" in the past five years kept mistresses and were accused of "trading power for sex" along with gambling, money laundering, and illegal real estate deals.

Some of them amassed illegal gains such as apartments, cars, and money as gifts for mistresses or simply directed them to accept bribes, it says.

An exhibition organizer said though the show is not open to the public, but all central government officials were required to visit it.

(China Daily September 6, 2007)