Corrupt Chinese officials are younger, well-educated and outgoing. In one case, a 32-year-old official of a science park in Zhejiang province was jailed 11 years for bribery. Photo: Bloomberg
Corruption cases involving younger government officials have been increasing in recent years, Thepaper.cn reported Thursday, citing Chen Yunlong, chief procurator in Zhejiang province.
Last year, local authorities handled 291 cases involving government officials younger than 35, up 167 percent from the previous year, Chen said.
Among them was Guo Mingcheng, a low-level official in the planning and construction office of Zhejiang Hangzhou Future Sci-Tech City.
Guo, 32, was sentenced to 11 years in prison after being found guilty of misusing his position to extract bribes worth 1.58 million yuan (US$243,676).
A similar trend is also being seen in Hainan and Guangdong province, the report said.
Most of the disgraced officials are smart, well educated and outgoing, sources were quoted as saying.
The revelations highlighted the Chinese government’s hiring practices which are skewed toward youth and education but overlook other important factors such as honesty and integrity, the report said.
In addition, some corrupt officials are abetting the practice by ignoring dubious hiring standards.
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