A "naked official" is to be replaced in south China's Guangdong Province, as the country's anti-graft campaign begins to target this specific group of Party officials.
According to a statement on Monday from the Organization Department of the provincial committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Fang Xuan, deputy chief of Guangzhou City's Party Committee, will be replaced by Li Yiwei, party chief of Foshan City in Guangdong.
Fang, born in 1954, was due to reach the official retirement age of 60 in October. The statement said he was taking early retirement.
Fang was also Zhuhai City's party chief as well as head of the organization department of Guangzhou CPC committee.
It has been reported the reason for this is because authorities found him to be a "naked official". The term refers to officials whose spouse and children have emigrated overseas.
According to selection and appointment regulations issued in January, these officials will not be considered for promotion.
Anonymous sources with the province's organization department told Xinhua Fang's early retirement was part of a large-scale campaign to stamp out "naked officials".
Guangdong Province has launched a slew of investigations into such officials.
Guangdong's move came after a central disciplinary inspection team statement in February, which said the number of "naked officials" in the province was a serious problem.
Xin Ming, professor with Party School of the Central Committee of CPC, said that Fang's early retirement shows the local government's determination to solve the problem.
"The number of 'naked officials' has to decrease rather than merely have their chances of promotion cut off," said Xin.
However, some have questioned whether Fang's early retirement was actual punishment. The public's impression is that such officials must be corrupt.
Xiao Bin, professor with the School of Government, Sun yat-sen University, said "naked officials" are considered high-risk when it comes to corruption. Some have transferred large amounts of assets overseas and sent relatives abroad to escape punishment.
"These officials who can easily escape to foreign countries are more inclined to act in a corrupt manner, which damages the credibility of the government and the Party," Xiao added.
China has grappled with the "naked official" problem for a long time.
Statistics from the Supreme People's Procuratorate in 2011 showed that 1,631 corrupted fugitives were arrested, a 27 percent year on year increase. Proceeds from their crimes worth 7.7 billion yuan (1.25 billion U.S. dollars) have been recovered.
In 2011 Luo Yinguo, deputy party secretary of Guangdong's Maoming City, was detained for accepting bribes and power abuse. Luo had fake identity cards so he could easily cross the border. Luo's children had acquired foreign nationality.
Another corrupt cadre from Dongguan City in Guangdong was arrested in 2012. His wife and children had moved to Hong Kong and bought properties there.
Xin Ming said the problem has been because of a shortage of sufficient and effective measures to control this group of people.
The anti-graft body issued regulations as early as 1997 ordering officials and cadres to disclose details of their spouses and children who had emigrated.
A reporting system was implemented in 2010 but has had little impact.
