Property declaration: pros & cons

Property declaration by officials in the public sector is a hot topic this year. A compulsory property declaration regime, which has served well in many developed countries, is a mighty weapon against corruption. Lessons from other countries reveal that a sound property declaration system has at least four significant features. First, a specific law or a chapter on the anti-corruption law is made to take on the issue of property declaration. Second, reports of officials' properties must be strictly inspected. Third, the content of property declaration should be made public. And fourth, the officials who conceal or manipulate property status must be penalized.

Though China has introduced a stipulation on property declaration in 1995, it has not been effective in curbing corruption due to lack of these four features. Almost no grave corruption case has been detected through this stipulation, and many venal officials have easily passed the property declaration every year until they are found corrupt. When the current property declaration system cannot deter the officials from corruption or help discover the corrupt cases, we need to examine the flaws in the system and reform it.

The current system falls short of three key elements, i.e. inspection of property reports, publication of outcomes and penalties on those who cheat. Why were these crucial elements not incorporated into property declaration? There are quite a few barriers hampering the system from functioning well.