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2007 Assessment

China: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

China: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Political Financing
Indicators		Score
20	Are there regulations governing political financing?	0
21	Are the regulations governing political financing effective?	4
22	Can citizens access records related to political financing?	8

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Are there regulations governing political financing?

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.

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

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: No such limits exist.

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

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: No such limits exist.

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

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: No relevant limits exist.

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

Score:

YES

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

Comments:

References: No requirements exist.

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

Score:

YES

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

References: No requirements exist.

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

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: No such agency exists.

Are the regulations governing political financing effective?

21a: In practice, the limits on individual donations to candidates and political parties are effective in regulating an individual's ability to financially support a candidate or political party.

Score:

100

Comments: In the strict sense, political financing is not an issue in China because all expenditures of political activities, either of the ruling party and 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 treatments.

References: 1): Interview Mr. Zhao Xu, the director of international cooperation and the researcher of Unirule Institute of Economics, Aug. 13, office

2): Zhang Jianjun "The Political Strategies of Chinese Private Enterprises" PKU Business Review, 2005 [ LINK ]

21b: In practice, the limits on corporate donations to candidates and political parties are effective in regulating a company's ability to financially support a candidate or political party.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: 1): Interview Mr. Zhao Xu, the director of international cooperation and the researcher of Unirule Institute of Economics, Aug. 13, office

2): Zhang Jianjun "The Political Strategies of Chinese Private Enterprises" PKU Business Review, 2005 [ LINK ]

21c: 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:

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 [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: There are no such limits as far as I know.

Peer Review Comments: There are no such limits in China.

21d: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring political financing independently initiates investigations.

Score:

100

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 [ LINK ]

Peer Review 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 provides political financing to the CPC and the eight small parties.

Suggested other reference: Audit Law of the People's Republic of China [ LINK ]

21e: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring political financing imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

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 [ LINK ]

Suggested other reference: Audit Law of the People's Republic of China [ LINK ]

21f: In practice, contributions to political parties and candidates 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 [ LINK ]

2): Li Delong "Several Points on the Relationship between Government and Party" Study Times, July 17, 2007 [ LINK ]

Can citizens access records related to political financing?

22a: In practice, political parties and candidates 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

Peer Review Comments: No. Basically, there is only one party and it has a monopoly. There are candidates on the local village level, but I have never heard of anyone disclosing such information.

22b: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties and candidates 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

Peer Review 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.

22c: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties and candidates at a reasonable cost.

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

Peer Review Comments: I don't think any citizen could access any such records of the CCP.

Peer Review Comments: 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.