China official says anti-graft drive to target government-enterprise ties – Xinhua

SHANGHAI The head of one of China’s top graft-busting agencies has said Beijing’s anti-corruption drive will clean up the relationship between government officials and enterprises, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

President Xi Jinping has waged war on corruption since assuming office more than four years ago, leading to a one-third jump in graft court cases in 2016.

The head of the Ministry of Supervision, Yang Xiaodu, said there was still a long way to go before relations between the government and enterprises were “clean”, Xinhua reported on Saturday.

Yang told the China Development Forum in Beijing that some government officials abuse their authority to embezzle state-owned assets.

He said the anti-corruption drive would reduce collusion between government officials and enterprises, promoting fair competition in a market environment.

“The creation of a new type of relationship between the government and enterprises is a long-term process,” Xinhua quoted Yang as saying.

(Reporting by Engen Tham; Editing by Paul Tait)