More than 3,900 officials lost their eligibility to be promoted in 2015 because they concealed personal information in reports, Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

As an effort to ensure clean governance, officials in leading positions are required to report personal information annually since 2010, including property owned, investments, marriage status and occupation of next-of-kin.

Only a small percentage of the reports are examined, although checks increased to 10 percent last year from 3 to 5 percent in 2014. More than 439,000 officials at or above the deputy department director level were checked last year.

Of the officials whose eligibility was canceled, 160 were found to be in violation of Party discipline and received punishments, while 124 were removed from their posts or demoted.

Residential property is a key point of the check, according to a report by Beijing Youth Daily on Monday. The Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee requires officials to report residences, commercial housing, factory buildings, storage, self-built houses and carports. Even if they have sold the property, they must still report the sale if the ownership has not been transferred yet. Property under the names of a spouse or child are also required by the report.

According to Beijing Youth Daily, an official in Hunan province understated 1 square meter for his house, and was asked to hand in an explanation on this issue.

The requirements are more detailed this year. The form for officials in Beijing has increased to 10 pages.

Heilongjiang province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region instructed their officials that miscommunication with a spouse or child is not an excuse for misreporting. Some provinces require a spouse's signature.

pengyining@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/26/2016 page4)