China Tightens Officials' Overseas Travel to Prevent Flight - Bloomberg

By Bloomberg News - 2012-05-28T03:24:01Z

China’s Communist Party will boost measures to make sure government officials don’t flee the country or transfer money abroad, the party said on its website.

The Central Disciplinary Inspection Commission will set up a “flight-prevention coordinating mechanism” for every province and enhance “passport management” measures, according to a statement on the party website posted May 24, citing Gan Yisheng, vice secretary of the commission.

Beijing has stepped up efforts to ensure party loyalty and clean up corruption after Politburo member Bo Xilai was suspended from the body on accusations of “serious violations of discipline,” and his wife, Gu Kailai, was taken into custody for involvement in the murder of a British businessman. Bo’s ouster comes ahead of a once-a-decade party leadership transition set to begin later this year.

The government has “prevented a batch of officials from fleeing the country” through an existing overseas travel- registration system and supervision of cross-border fund transfers, according to the statement, without giving details.

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To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net