Local Party and government officials have been urged to stay faithful to their wives, after a series of scandals involving corrupt officials cheating on their spouses.

The call to remain monogamous came from Mei Heqing, a member of the standing committee with the Guangzhou Party Commission for Discipline Inspection, on Thursday.

Guangzhou's anti-graft body has investigated 61 officials of county-level or higher this year.

"Thirty-eight of them, nearly 63 percent, have been found to keep mistresses, or have more than one sexual partner," Mei said at a news conference.

"These cases have had a very bad social effect," he said.

He Jing, former deputy Party secretary and deputy director of the Guangzhou public security bureau, was found to have taken large bribes when he was in office from 2003 to 2012.

"He was also found to have several mistresses and to have had sexual relations with many other women in recent years," Mei said.

He was removed from his post in August and has been transferred to a judicial organ for further investigation, Mei added.

Other senior Party and government officials investigated on suspicion of having accepted bribes this year include Li Zhizhen, former director of the Guangzhou bureau of civil affairs, Zhang Jianguo, former deputy director of the Guangzhou Administrative Committee of Urban Management, and Dai Yuqing, former publisher and Party chief of Guangzhou Daily Group.

Li, 50, is suspected of taking bribes worth more than 3 million yuan ($477,707), plus HK$90,000 ($11,600), a large sum of other foreign currencies, jade, gold, watches, jewelry and furniture.

Zhang is suspected of accepting bribes of 3.92 million yuan, plus $20,000 and Dai is suspected of taking more than 2 million yuan in bribes.

Li, Zhang and Dai have been transferred to judicial organs for further investigations and possible future prosecution, according to Mei.

Guangzhou's Nansha district, at the mouth of the Pearl River, has taken the lead in Guangdong province by introducing a pilot project in which its Party and government officials are asked to report their assets, which will be made public and on which public opinion will be sought.

Mei said his commission plans to work with the city's housing, taxation and exit and entry departments to allow the public to inquire into officials' property, travel records and other information.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/21/2012 page5)