China's Ministry of Supervision announced Monday that it will
target "unhealthy practices" which infringe upon the interests of
people in various social sectors this year as part of efforts to
curb corruption.
The "unhealthy practices" include charging unreasonably high
tuition fees, taking bribes from patients or drug companies and
collecting unauthorized fees from farmers, Qu Wanxiang, vice
minister of supervision, said in an interview with Xinhua.
Qu said such practices, which have triggered a public outcry,
were a result of insufficient government services and a lack of
effective supervision.
The vice minister promised that the Ministry of Supervision will
improve the monitoring of government departments and state-run
agencies and "resolutely correct practices which harm the interests
of the public".
During last year's nationwide crackdown on corruption in the
health sector, 693 health workers were sentenced on charges of
commercial bribery or punished according to Party disciplines.
Last year, the government urged health workers to voluntarily
turn in bribes and about 270 million yuan were turned in by health
workers by the end of 2006.
The Ministry of Supervision, a national administrative
supervision organ under the State Council, is responsible for
supervising the implementation of state policies, laws and
regulations, dealing with complaints and charges, and examining
disciplinary measures taken against government employees.
(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2007)