A widely circulated internet image has outlined how corrupt officials in the Chinese Communist Party secretly accept money at high, middle, and low levels, sparking public attention. Several individuals familiar with the inner workings of the mainland Chinese officialdom have shared their views with Epoch Times.
Recently, a graphic titled “How Corrupt Officials Secretly Accept Money” rapidly spread within WeChat groups on social platforms. The image summarizes common paths of “hidden financial flows” in the corrupt ecosystem in China in a structured manner.
Low-level bribery methods include receiving cash red envelopes, kickbacks from procurement, precious metals, and various holiday shopping cards; officials’ relatives selling vastly overpriced items (such as tea leaves) in their shops, waiting for bribers to purchase; and accepting “one-fifth discount” housing units provided by developers through family members in a “prize draw” manner.
Mid-level bribery methods involve bribe givers setting up scholarships to “secure admission” for corrupt officials’ children at prestigious private schools; allowing corrupt officials’ family members to become shareholders in companies before going public, then immediately selling their shares for cash; and offering overseas luxury residences for corrupt officials’ families to live in after renovation based on their requests.
High-level bribery methods include obtaining hidden benefits through investments in film and television productions, stock markets, currency markets, and even making money through art auctions and gambling, as well as completing cross-border asset transfers.
Beijing scholar Liu Hua (pseudonym) told Epoch Times that the three-tier classification of bribery and corruption for financial gain is interesting, as it has been a long-term phenomenon. It categorizes corrupt practices based on the level of power, the scope of authority, control over resources, economic resources, and the strength of capabilities.
However, Liu Hua pointed out that even at the county or township level, where bribery may be relatively simpler, the amounts of corruption involved can be substantial. For example, former Vice Researcher of the Qinhuangdao City Urban Construction Management Bureau and General Manager of the Beidaihe Water Supply Company, Ma Chaoqun, was involved in the embezzlement of over one billion yuan.
Liu Hua mentioned that under the corruption in officialdom, corruption has spread to various industries in society; even elementary and middle school teachers are now as corrupt as doctors. Many teachers are skillful at using holidays to extort bribes from parents, subtly coercing them to give red envelopes.
A second-generation official in China revealed that his father often received shopping cards from some businessmen for his personal use, but he wasn’t aware of other details.
Senior figure in the mainland capital market, Xu Zhen, informed Epoch Times that more concealed corrupt practices stem from advice circulating within the discipline inspection and supervision systems or among judicial system officials. He revealed instances of prosecutors advising officials on similar matters.
Anti-corruption efforts have always been a source of pride for the authorities, but the more intensively they crackdown on corruption, the more rampant it becomes. Since 2023, a large number of high-ranking officials have been toppled or gone missing, many of whom were close aides handpicked by the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping himself.
As early as 2022, an article published in the “Theory and Reform” magazine hosted by the Sichuan Provincial Party School of the Chinese Communist Party exposed the increasingly concealed and cunning new types of corruption within the CCP, likening corruption to a continually evolving virus.
The article indicated that between 2018 and 2021, nearly 80% of fallen mid-level cadres exhibited characteristics of new-type corruption. This new form of corruption possesses “evasive and elusive capabilities” in the face of existing anti-corruption measures. Corrupt individuals now exploit innovative financial products such as bonds, shadow banking, IPOs, internet finance, off-balance sheet operations, structured products, credit marketing innovations, etc., to carry out corruption through methods like going public, asset substitution, private placements, options, shareholding by proxy, and private equity corruption. They may also engage in corrupt activities using virtual currencies or money laundering through decentralized financial agreements.
The article further classified new-type corruption into four basic types: “Tunnel Digging” profit transfer corruption, “Russian Doll” covert corruption, “Insider Information” arbitrage corruption, and “Soft Power” influence corruption.
Xu Zhen, the senior figure in the mainland capital market, stated that the CCP’s red genes inherently contain corrupt and decadent elements. Looking back at the history of corruption within the CCP (including bribery and graft), the origins can be traced back to the Yan’an period, where the first CCP leader, Mao Zedong, offered sexual bribes to representatives of the Communist International. After the CCP seized power, especially during the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, and through the eras of Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, corruption issues worsened, leading to the degeneration of the party and the country. Under the current CCP leader, Xi Jinping, corruption and decadence within the CCP have reached new heights, extending beyond the domestic realm to the international stage and the United Nations, with the aim of corrupting the world to prolong the CCP’s existence.
Beijing scholar Liu Hua stated that the CCP itself admits to a never-ending stream of new corrupt bribery models, attributing it to the inherently corrupt nature of the CCP’s system. “Corruption’s essence and root are inseparable, and with technological advancements, more diverse and sophisticated methods of making money will definitely emerge. The CCP regime itself is inherently corrupt, making anti-corruption efforts merely child’s play under this premise.”
A citizen journalist from mainland China, who frequently exposes the dark side of officialdom, told Epoch Times that decades of experience have proven that one-party dictatorship is the root cause of widespread calamity. Corruption has already infiltrated every industry and corner of China. Those who are investigated are merely involved in inner struggles within interest groups, and there is no genuine anti-corruption effort. “Over the years, I have witnessed too much of the CCP’s corruption, evil, and atrocities. Abolishing the CCP’s authoritarian system is the only real solution.”
A political observer in Beijing, Hua Po, expressed to Epoch Times that under unchecked power, corruption becomes unavoidable. The degree of corruption is proportional to the power one possesses; the greater the authority, the more corruption, and the more covert it becomes. High-ranking officials who are investigated are primarily abandoned by the system. The notion of “letting the people supervise power” is a deceptive lie.