Anti-graft officials seek allies at meeting

Two senior Chinese anti-graft officials attended the sixth round of China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which analysts said is a signal that the two countries will enhance their cooperation in fighting corruption.

Fu Kui, deputy head of the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention, and Meng Hongwei, vice-minister of public security, attended the closed-door meeting in Beijing on Wednesday.

Fu's bureau is in charge of China's anti-graft policymaking and international cooperation on fighting corruption.

Before taking up that post in February, Fu was deputy secretary-general of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, the country's top anti-graft watchdog.

Meng is also head of the Chinese National Central Bureau of the International Criminal Police Organization. He is in charge of international cooperation in dealing with criminals including fugitive corrupt officials.

The presence of these officials at the dialogue shows China is working to boost international cooperation in fighting corruption, said Zhou Shuzhen, a professor of clean-governance research at Renmin University of China.

A number of corrupt Chinese officials have fled overseas, and anti-graft authorities urgently need international cooperation to trace them, Zhou said.

There is a growing trend for countries to improve their cooperation in fighting corruption, she said.

In May, Switzerland pledged to hand over details of secret bank accounts there to other nations, a development that is expected to help China's ongoing campaign against graft.

"The move will help anti-corruption efforts in China, because Switzerland is the world's largest offshore financial center," Zhou said.

- An Baijie