For 6 million yuan ($945,000), one can buy a decent apartment in downtown Beijing, or a luxury car. But money cannot buy you everything as one man, referred to only as Wang in court, learnt to his cost. To his dismay, purchasing high-ranking government jobs for his friends was not so easy.

"I admit I've made mistakes, but I don't think I am guilty," Zou Yanyan, a petrochemicals entrepreneur who boasted to Wang of having connections with central officials, told the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court on August 1. After failing to help Wang in his plan, Zou has been charged with fraud.

In 2009, Wang approached Zou in Beijing to seek help in getting two of his friends, who were tired of their positions, promoted. The first was a department head in Liaoning Province while the other, an associate professor, coveted a post in the procuratorial or judiciary organs, according to Wang's testimony.

Zou promised that he would be able to help and charged Wang 5 million and 3 million yuan respectively for the two men.

Wang had already paid 6 million yuan to Zou by October 2010 when Zou vanished and Wang went to the police. Zou was tracked down and arrested in August 2011, by which point he had already spent all the money, according to the Beijing Times. 

Zou told the court that he was "innocent" as he had also allegedly been ripped off by a local businessman who lied by saying he had access to high-ranking ministry officials.

Although this at first appears to be a simple fraud case, both the public and scholars are calling for an investigation by disciplinary authorities into the two friends seeking promotions. Both the official and the professor are suspected of being involved in the buying of government posts.

Though Wang allegedly claimed that the two "friends," whose identities remain unclear, were unaware of his aborted attempt to surprise them, an overwhelming majority of the public are very skeptical at such a claim, believing the real back story to be far more complicated.

Increasing frauds

After scouring court documents and media reports, determined Internet users soon took up the scent and unearthed the suspicious department chief in Liaoning.

On Chinese popular online forums and Weibo sites, the former head of the Liaoning provincial department of science and technology, now an official with the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), was fingered, although his promotion appears not to have been related to this fraud case.

Both the MOST's discipline inspection bureau and the Liaoning science and technology department were unable to verify these suspicions. A press officer with the Liaoning department was unable to comment on the story to the Global Times.

Li Manchun, a professor of corruption prevention studies at the Hunan-based Central South University, told the Global Times that theoretically, disciplinary departments should step in for further investigations, as this appears to have been a fairly typical case of trying to buy and sell government posts.

"If the under-the-table promotion seekers cannot be rooted out, it only indicates the existence of complicated conflicts of interests," said Li.

Shu Shengxiang, a news commentator, wrote that if when such cases are uncovered, the media and courts only focus on the fraud and not on the trading of official posts, such swindles will only multiply. 

In recent years, China has been seeing a growing number of similar fraud cases.

In October 2011, Ye Changhua, Party chief of the Liling county agricultural machinery bureau in Hunan Province, was stripped of his post after being caught paying 80,000 yuan for a higher position.

He turned himself in to the police after realizing he had been duped, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

"Obviously, the charlatans have been well versed in the officials' mentality, which banks on reaping a lot more profits after a certain amount of investment," said Lin Zhe, an anti-corruption specialist with the Party School of the Central Committee of CPC.

"The frequency of such cases has highlighted the unsound method in which officials are selected in this country, where many work tirelessly to cut corners for promotions," Xu Lanting, a Beijing-based lawyer who specializes in corruption cases, told the Global Times.

Money for power tradition

China had a history of selling official positions since ancient times. Lin told the Global Times that many officials fall prey to the temptations of their post. The appeal of power is difficult to eradicate, showing why this ugly phenomenon keeps rearing its head.

"I once received a text message from an official, who summarized the ultimate goal of being an official as 'securing a high position with the most power while shouldering less responsibilities,'" Lin said, adding that such concepts, though seemingly jokes, are shared among a lot of officials.

Chinese authorities have been attempting to take the fight to such officials, cracking down harshly on corrupt actions. 

In May 2008, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC (CCDI) issued a circular, stressing that any official found buying or selling official posts would be removed from office and be held responsible.

Li Yuanchao, head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, said in October 2010 that to combat malpractice in the appointment of officials. "The reputation of those selling the posts shall be totally ruined and the buyers shall pay a double penalty."

However, despite constant warnings from central authorities, these shady deals show no sign of disappearing, with ever more startling scandals shocking the public.

One of the latest cases was that of Liu Zhuozhi, former vice chairman of North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, who was sentenced to life in prison in June for accepting bribes of more than 8.17 million yuan between 2002 and 2010. The court found most of the bribes had been paid to secure promotions.

A senior anti-corruption official with the CCDI said on August 23 in an interview with Xinhua that "there is no political party in the world that pays so much attention to anti-corruption as the CPC."

Li pointed out that China has formulated a solid theoretical anti-corruption system and corresponding monitoring mechanisms, but that a lack of effective implementation had left the system full of loopholes, allowing such illicit trades to blossom. 

A vicious spiral

The secret deals seem to form a vicious circle, since those who so eagerly purchased their positions will then turn into the greediest of salesmen in turn when they rise to power. 

"The bribers are also officials holding a certain amount of power and the money they used for their promotion usually comes from bribes they received from someone else," Xu said while summarizing the characteristics of such cases.

The austere situation deserves the full attention of anti-corruption education toward Party members, most of whom have been educated in Party schools at different levels, Lin said.

Currently, power seekers and the grafters try to make their deals covertly, like concluding them during festivals and public holidays.

For Ni Junxiong, former police chief of Maoming, Guang Dong Province, occasions such as the Spring Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival were "harvest seasons."

When he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in June, his lawyer sought to defend him, by saying that the traditional Chinese red envelopes of cash Ni's subordinates sent during the festivals were to "maintain a good relationship" and should not be regarded as bribes.

The key to determining the facts in bribery cases, according to Xu, is to establish whether the "red envelopes" given were for officials to abuse their power by promoting their underlings, no matter what the occasion was when they were given.

The emergence of intermediaries in such deals is another worrying development, as illustrated by Wang's case.

While working as the secretary of a disciplinary department in her university, Li said she experienced cases in which the "scapegoat" was imprisoned and then compensated upon their release.

Political reform

To effectively rein in this plague, Li said a reform of the current political system is paramount.

"There are too many metaphorical casting couches for official selection and promotion … in many cases, seemingly public and fair elections are really just mere formalities," she said.

The only use the officials involved had for power was to make more profits. Furthermore, the randomness of official appointment mechanisms has left much space for these maneuvers.

Among 41 graft cases that Ni was found guilty of, 38 are related to the trading of official posts, ranging from county-level public security bureau chiefs to division chiefs with varying "prices."

In a case revealed by the CCDI in August 2010, a senior official in the government of Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, approved the appointment and removal of 118 Party members in two days. The bribes he received exceeded 4 million yuan.

Lin suggested that direct intra-Party elections be gradually rolled out at the grass-roots level on up to guarantee people's rights to vote, adding that a multiple candidate election process is essential.

"Only when intra-Party democracy expands into social democracy will these evil trends be curbed," she said.

Xu said that although punishments for corrupt officials in China are severe, the key is to prevent some fish escaping from the net, which calls for extensive public supervision.

"Forcing officials to reveal their property would be an effective measure," he suggested.

Lin Zhe said the crackdown against corruption in China has reached a crucial stage. With an increasing number of corruption cases being uncovered, strong resistance from vested interest holders is inevitable.

Recently, several high-rank officials from public security bodies in provinces including Guangdong, Zhejiang and Hunan have been caught as part of corruption rings. This includes He Jing, deputy director of the Guangzhou public security bureau, who is suspected of involvement in official posts dealings and is under interrogation.

"We don't need to lose confidence in fighting against corruption, but we have to realize it will be a long-term and tough war," said Li.