China to set up new anti-corruption agency

BEIJING - China will establish a new anti-graft body to further strengthen pressure on corrupt officials, deputy Procurator-General Qiu Xueqiang has said.

Special: China cracks down on graft

Qiu told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that the plan for a new anti-graft agency was put forward by the Party committee of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) and was approved by the central authority.

A vice-ministerial level, full-time member of the procuratorial committee will hold a concurrent post as head of the new anti-graft agency, Qiu added.

The new agency will be better organized and better able to help the SPP handle major cases and break institutional obstacles, he said.

China established the anti-corruption bureau under the SPP in 1995. After almost 20 years of development, it struggled to meet the demands for anti-corruption work under the new situation due to poor effectiveness in handling corruption cases, Qiu added.