China names chief of new anti-graft body

BEIJING, Sep 6 (Reuters) China today named the head of a new anti-corruption agency intended to bolster the fight against widespread graft eroding the ruling Communist Party, as Premier Wen Jiabao promised more transparency in government.

Ma Wen, who last week was named Minister of Supervision, which monitors government officials, will also head the national corruption prevention bureau, which was announced earlier this year, Xinhua news agency reported.

Her appointment came the same day that Wen highlighted promises to make government more transparent and accountable.

''We will continue to advance political reform, expand people's democracy, strengthen rule of law and promote social equity and justice,'' Wen said in a speech to the World Economic Forum in Dalian, a port city in northeast China.

''Without political reform, economic reform will not succeed.'' The anti-corruption agency joins several other watchdog bodies under the government and the Communist Party, and it is unclear what the new organisation can add to their efforts.

China's leaders have stepped up a public fight against graft and abuse as they seek to impose their authority and win over citizens shaken by a string of high-profile official scandals.

But the one-party state has struggled to find ways of reining in officials who do not have to answer directly to the public.

Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of the State Food and Drug Administration, was executed in July for taking bribes from drug makers.

The former party chief of Shanghai, Chen Liangyu, is likely to be tried for graft and financial abuses. And dozens of lesser officials have also been caught for illicit deals.

REUTERS JK PM1818