In April, Li Yuqing, former deputy Party secretary and also mayor of Huailai county, Hebei province, was removed from both posts for providing false information about his personal affairs along with other Party discipline violations.

This is reportedly the first case involving an official getting punished for violating a self-reporting system that requires Party officials and public servants to declare their personal incomes and assets.

The personal property reporting system was introduced in 1995 for leading officials, and formally implemented for all officials above the deputy-county-level in 2010. However, few have been punished for this in recent years due to the lack of an effective examination and verification system.

Without a system of checks, self-reporting depends on the integrity of the official and whistle-blowers among the public.

However, intensified efforts to check officials' personal information in some regions and encourage the public to report any hidden assets of falsifications mean the system can play its role if effective follow-up measures are taken.

More spot checks and verifications are needed to strengthen the system and the results of random checks should be released so that the public can help verify their authenticity.

The above is an abridgement of a China Youth Daily article published on Wednesday.