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2008 Assessment

China: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

China: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Political Financing
Indicators		Score
20	Are there regulations governing the financing of political parties?	0
21	Are there regulations governing the financing of individual political candidates?	0
22	Are the regulations governing the political financing of parties effective?	4
23	Are the regulations governing the political financing of individual candidates effective?	10
24	Can citizens access records related to the financing of political parties?	0
25	Can citizens access records related to the financing of individual candidates' campaigns?	0

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Are there regulations governing the financing of political parties?

20a: In law, there are regulations governing private contributions to political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: All expenditures concerning the running of the ruling party and democratic parties are covered by the government.

References: No such laws exist.

Peer Review Comments: In China, the Communist Party of China (CPC) is the ruling party and there are other eight small parties. However, these other eight parties are not opposition parties. In fact, there is no real competition for seats in elections among the CPC and the eight small parties because the CPC dominates the nominating of candidates. Besides, the CPC-controlled government provides funding to the CPC and the eight small parties. Therefore, there is no need to draft laws to regulate private contributions to political parties in China.

20b: In law, there are limits on individual donations to political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: No such laws exist.

20c: In law, there are limits on corporate donations to political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: No such laws exist.

20d: In law, there are limits on total political party expenditures.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: No limits exist.

20e: In law, there are requirements for the disclosure of donations to political parties.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there are any requirements mandating the disclosure of financial contributions to political parties. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no requirements mandating the disclosure of contributions to political parties, existing regulations do not require a donor\'s name or amount given, or the regulations allow for anonymous donations.$

Comments: The auditing agency in China will only look at government expenditures, not at the expenditures of political parties.

References: No such requirements exist.

20f: In law, there are requirements for the independent auditing of the finances and expenditures of political parties.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there is a legal or regulatory requirement for the independent auditing of party finances and expenditures. The auditing is performed by an impartial third-party. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no legal or regulatory requirements for the independent auditing of political parties\' finances and expenditures or if such requirements exist but allow for parties to self-audit.$

Comments:

References: No such agency exists.

20g: In law, there is an agency or entity that monitors the financing of political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: No such agency exists.

Are there regulations governing the financing of individual political candidates?

21a: In law, there are regulations governing private contributions to individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: No such laws exist.

Peer Review Comments: In China the Communist Party of China (CPC) is the ruling party along with the eight small parties which are not opposition parties. There is no need for the CPC and the eight small parties to spend a large sum of money on elections because the results of elections above the township level are always as predictable as the CPC expects. Therefore, there is no need to draft laws to govern the financing of individual political candidates.

21b: In law, there are limits on individual donations to political candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments: "No restrictions" here means there is no law regulating this behavior.

References: No restrictions exist.

21c: In law, there are limits on corporate donations to individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: There are no laws regulating this.

21d: In law, there are requirements for the disclosure of donations to individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there are any requirements mandating the disclosure of financial contributions to individual political candidates. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no requirements mandating the disclosure of contributions to individual political candidates, existing regulations do not require a donor\'s name or amount given, or the regulations allow for anonymous donations.$

Comments:

References: No such requirements exist.

21e: In law, there are requirements for the independent auditing of the campaign finances of individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there is a legal or regulatory requirement for the independent auditing of an individual candidate\'s campaign finances and expenditures. The auditing is performed by an impartial third-party. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no legal or regulatory requirements for the independent auditing of an individual candidate\'s campaign finances and expenditures or if such requirements exist but allow for candidates to self-audit.$

Comments:

References: No such requirements exist.

21f: In law, there is an agency or entity that monitors the financing of individual political candidates' campaigns.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there is a domestic agency or set of domestic agencies/entities formally assigned to monitor and enforce laws and regulations around the financing of individual political candidates\' campaigns. A YES score is earned even if the agency/entity is ineffective in practice. NO: A NO score is earned if there is no such agency or entity.$

Comments:

References: No such agencies exist.

Are the regulations governing the political financing of parties effective?

22a: In practice, the limits on individual donations to political parties are effective in regulating an individual's ability to financially support a political party.

Score:

100

Comments: In the strict sense, political financing is not an issue in China because all expenditures on political activities, either of the ruling party or of other parties, are covered by the central government. In comparison to political financing in Western countries, Chinese firms generally achieve their goals by developing personal relationships with officials for preferential treatment.

References: 1. Zhang Jianjun, "The Political Strategies of Chinese Private Enterprises," PKU Business Review, 2005.

22b: In practice, the limits on corporate donations to political parties are effective in regulating a company's ability to financially support a political party.

Score:

100

Comments: See comments of for Political Financing Sub-Indicator 22a.

References: 1. Zhang Jianjun, "The Political Strategies of Chinese Private Enterprises," PKU Business Review, 2005.

22c: In practice, the limits on total party expenditures are effective in regulating a political party's ability to fund campaigns or politically-related activities.

Score:

100

Comments: See comments of Political Financing Sub-Indicator 22a.

References: 1. Zhang Jianjun, "The Political Strategies of Chinese Private Enterprises," PKU Business Review, 2005.

22d: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of political parties independently initiates investigations.

Score:

100

Comments: In China there is no independent agency monitoring political financing. However, when necessary, the National Audit Office may review expenditures of the government that provide political financing to the CPC and the eight small parties.

References: 1. Sun Guoliang, "Establishing A Formal Management System of Party Member Charges," China Elections and Governance, April 3, 2007. [ LINK ] 2. Zhou Cheng, "The Fate of Reformm" Huang Hua Gang Magazine, Issue 4, 2005. 3. Audit Law of China.

22e: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of political parties imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

References: 1. Sun Guoliang, "Establishing A Formal Management System of Party Member Charges," China Elections and Governance, April 3, 2007. [ LINK ] 2. Zhou Cheng, "The Fate of Reform," Huang Hua Gang Magazine, Issue 4, 2005. 3. Audit Law of China.

22f: In practice, contributions to political parties are audited.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: 1. Peng Zhe, "China's Political Reform Should Start from Separating Party Affairs from Government Running," Xindao Global, March 29, 2007. 2. Li Delong, "Several Points on the Relationship between Government and Party," Study Times, July 17, 2007.

Are the regulations governing the political financing of individual candidates effective?

23a: In practice, the limits on individual donations to political candidates are effective in regulating an individual's ability to financially support a particular candidate.

Score:

100

Comments: See comments of Political Financing Sub-Indicator 22a.

References: 1. Zhang Jianjun, "The Political Strategies of Chinese Private Enterprises," PKU Business Review, 2005.

23b: In practice, the limits on corporate donations to individual candidates are effective in regulating a company's ability to financially support a candidate.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: 1. Zhang Jianjun, "The Political Strategies of Chinese Private Enterprises," PKU Business Review, 2005.

23c: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of individual candidates' campaigns independently initiates investigations.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The agency or entity aggressively starts investigations into allegations of wrong doing with respect to the financing of individual candidates\' campaigns. The agency is fair in its application of this power. 50 Score Criteria: The agency or entity will start investigations, but often relies on external pressure to set priorities, or has limited effectiveness when investigating. The agency, thought limited in effectiveness, is still fair in its application of power. 0 Score Criteria: The agency or entity rarely investigates on its own, or the agency or entity is partisan in its application of this power.$

Comments:

References: 1. Sun Guoliang, "Establishing A Formal Management System of Party Member Charges," China Elections and Governance, April 3, 2007. [ LINK ] 2. Zhou Cheng, "The Fate of Reform," Huang Hua Gang Magazine, Issue 4, 2005. 3. Audit Law of China.

23d: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of individual candidates' campaigns imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: The audit bureau can only make judgments, however, the enforcement is subject to many other factors.

References: 1. Sun Guoliang, "Establishing A Formal Management System of Party Member Charges," China Elections and Governance, April 3, 2007. [ LINK ] 2. Zhou Cheng, "The Fate of Reform," Huang Hua Gang Magazine, Issue 4, 2005. 3. Audit Law of China.

23e: In practice, the finances of individual candidates' campaigns are audited.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The finances of individual candidates\' campaigns are regularly audited using generally accepted auditing practices. 50 Score Criteria: The finances of individual candidates\' campaigns are audited, but audits are limited in some way, such as using inadequate auditing standards, or the presence of exceptions to disclosed contributions. 0 Score Criteria: The finances of individual candidates\' campaigns are not audited, or the audits performed have no value in tracking contributions. Audits may be performed by entities known to be partisan or biased in their practices.$

Comments:

Peer Review Comments: In China, almost all the candidates' campaigns are funded by their respective parties, which are financed by the government. Only a small number of independent candidates have to find funding for their campaigns from other sources. The National Audit Office only audits the government expenditure that finance of the political parties. If the independent candidates violate the existing laws and regulations in seeking funding of their campaigns, the judiciary may initiate an investigation into their fund-raising activities and bank accounts.

Can citizens access records related to the financing of political parties?

24a: In practice, political parties disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: 1. "Why Is It So Difficult to Access Government Information," Procuratorial Daily, June 12, 2006. 2. "Violating Right to Information by the Excuse of Sensitivity," Xinhua Daily, Nov. 16, 2006.

24b: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: In China, party-sponsored candidates do not have independent election accounts, and they are funded by their respective parties. It is unthinkable for citizens to demand access to the parties' financial records, as there is no such law allowing citizens to do so. Besides, there is no point in accessing the financial records of political parties and candidates because political financing has nothing to do with the number of seats and political offices each party wins in elections. In the elections, the CPC usually discusses nomination of candidates with the other eight political parties before releasing a list of candidates. In other words, there are no real competitions between these parties and candidates for seats in the people's congresses at various levels and for political offices.

24c: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments:

Can citizens access records related to the financing of individual candidates' campaigns?

25a: In practice, individual political candidates disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments:

25b: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of individual candidates (their campaign revenues and expenditures) within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments:

25c: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of individual candidates (their campaign revenues and expenditures) at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: