Ling Jiefang, better known by his pen name Er Yuehe, meets with readers in Shenyang city, Northeast China's Liaoning province, on May 10, 2014. [Photo/CFP]

Legislator: high salaries won't curb corruption

"Paying high salaries to keep officials away from corruption has never proved effective in Chinese history," said NPC deputy and famous writer Ling Jiefang, better known by his pen name Er Yuehe.

"China has a large number of civil servants. If high salaries were adopted, the government wouldn't be able to shoulder such a huge burden," Ling added.

China's 40 million civil servants and staff of government-sponsored institutions got a monthly salary increase this January, their first salary increase since 2006. But this has sparked a debate since many people believe civil servants already have many social benefits such as preferential treatment in buying a house.

Ling also urged more moral education for officials to combat corruption.