Chinese officials will soon be required to disclose assets and investments held by their family members, in addition to their own, under new rules announced at the end of the Chinese Communist Party’s most important plenary of the year.

Xinhua News Agency reported that high-ranking members of the Chinese government will be ordered to disclose all housing and business dealings, and the jobs held by their spouses and children. This was announced by the government’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection at the end of the Fourth Plenary Session held in Beijing.

The commission renewed its commitment to punish people who sell or buy an official post, and those who try to rig election results. It will also renew efforts to investigate abuses of power, corruption and bribery, complaints about dereliction of duty, and official misconduct.

The move is aimed to "beef up self-discipline and strengthen the management of officials whose spouses and children have emigrated abroad," the report said.

Among the measures the commission has taken in stamping out graft include the monitoring, since July 2004, of job and college applications made by party officials and their relatives, the report said. Between July 2003 and last December, more than 880,000 officials were punished for misconduct, the commission revealed.

There was also a call for disciplinary inspection and supervisory bodies in the government to improve oversight, and communist party cadres were reminded they must present an image that is respectable and approachable, the report said.

At the end of the Chinese government’s fourth plenum, officials also acknowledged that were problems within the party that "seriously damage [its] flesh and blood bond with the people and seriously affect the solidity of [its] ruling status," according to the report.

The party’s Central Committee also pledged that it would "resolutely fight corruption" during the four-day plenum.

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More than a third of respondents to a survey said their companies had no compliance programme to detect or prevent violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The online survey by Deloitte Financial Advisory Services of 1,090 executives found that 34 per cent of respondents said their companies had no comprehensive compliance plan dealing with the FCPA. This is despite the fact that 72 per cent of respondents said they expect the US government, through the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice, to up its enforcement of the act, which bars Americans from bribing foreign officials.

When asked where they expected FCPA violations to most likely occur, 35 per cent responded that they imagine it would be from a US company’s foreign subsidiary, 28 per cent said from an agent or consultant, and 18 per cent said joint ventures or strategic partnerships.

Just under a quarter (23 per cent) of respondents attributed the lack of attention to the fact that many companies are unaware of the harsh penalties meted out for breach of compliance.

Ed Rial, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services principal, noted that FCPA enforcement is increasing significantly, even in industries not traditionally targeted such as insurance and financial services. "When it comes to FCPA, corporate ignorance is not bliss," he said.

"Regardless of the industry or country where a US company or issuer is conducting business, an organisation should have a well-documented and communicated FCPA compliance programme in place, with monitored controls to prevent and detect potential violations," he added.

The survey, which polled professionals from a cross-section of industries, also found that 59 per cent expected the increased enforcement activity to deter some FCPA violations in the next two years.

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