Illustration: Sun Ying

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government recently publicized a declaration of interests by relevant officials.

A list which ranks Hong Kong officials by the number of their properties has been widely circulating online in the mainland. Although it's not news to Hong Kongers, as property declaration by officials has been required in Hong Kong since the 1970s, it has generated another round of massive admiration for Hong Kong's system among the mainlanders.

The National People's Congress put forward a legislative proposal on establishing an official property declaration system in 1988, but 24 years on, it is still being discussed. Hong Kong's governance is cleaner than most other regions of China, and one reason is the institutional guarantees, which could serve as a lesson to the mainland.

A small number of officials in major positions could be asked to disclose their properties first and then the scope of the system could be expanded.

Hong Kong adopts a reverse-hierarchical system when requiring officials to declare their interests. Before 1998, only the 23 main officials in Hong Kong were required to declare their property holdings every year, but the number increased to 27 later, and it now includes some non-executive council members such as director of the chief executive's office. The number of those who are required to report their properties every two years has also been increased gradually. The mainland could borrow the idea from Hong Kong. It could promote a hierarchical declaration of interests system, from the central government to local governments, and from top officials to lower-ranking ones.

Not all the information of properties reported by the officials should be disclosed. Currently, only a part of the property information reported by the first-layer officials in Hong Kong's system needs to be published, including housing. The mainland could first define a limited content of property disclosure, and then require more information to be publicized.

The declaration of interests system, once it has been established, should be carefully implemented. The higher an official's position is, the stricter the regulations he or she should comply with. If officials don't honestly report their properties, they could be removed from their posts or receive other punishments. Hong Kong's experience in this aspect is also valuable to the mainland. 

In Hong Kong, the media and the public supervise the declaration of interests by the officials, and relevant authorities provide strict protection to investigators and whistle-blowers. And they try to respond quickly to the problems highlighted to ensure the public's active participation in the supervision process. The mainland should establish a sound public and media supervision system while promoting the property declaration system.

Reporting and disclosing properties can ensure public power is executed in a transparent environment. It can also protect officials from a different perspective. If one official is falsely accused of corruption, the property information disclosed could help him or her escape groundless accusations.

Due to vested interests, promoting an official property disclosure system has encountered many difficulties and obstacles in the mainland. A gradual trial and a hierarchal system may be a good choice for the mainland, based on Hong Kong's experience.

The author is a professor at the Center of Studies of Hong Kong, Macao and the Pearl River Delta at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

Voxpop

 @peiwen-cao

Hong Kong's declaration of interest system has worked for 40 years. Why hasn't the mainland been able to introduce such a system yet?

We have called for official property disclosure for many years but little progress has been made. People have to question why the mainland officials are so scared about disclosing property information.

@caijinglundao

Recently there has been a lot of news concerning official involvement in illegal fund collection. Imagine, if there is a property disclosure system, such illegal behavior would be reduced.

Hong Kong's official property disclosure is a mirror. The mainland public attention reflects the people's hopes for such a system.  

@yingxiangshidian

Based on the experiences of the Hong Kong government, we could see that official property disclosure is the tendency of a civil society. As long as the mainland sincerely learns from others, there will be no technical obstacles to establishing a property disclosure system.

@wanghuaminweiyuan

Property disclosure is the best weapon to fight against corruption. Recently 600 officials in Jiawang district, Xuzhou, published information about their property. Even some criticized it as just a show, it deserves encouragement.