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Chinese official to head international anti-graft body

China's top prosecutor has been elected to head an international anti-corruption body tasked with implementing a
United Nations' convention on fighting graft, the Chinese government said.

Jia Chunwang was elected to head the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities at its inaugural meeting held in Beijing, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said on its website.

Jia is the chief of the procuratorate, which is the central government's top prosecution body.

Nearly 1,000 delegates from 137 nations and 12 international organizations attended this week's meeting aimed at stepping up international cooperation in cracking down on graft, bribery and other crimes of corruption.

During the meeting the delegates approved an association charter, elected the a leadership and issued a development strategy for the group, the website said.

The meeting was organized to help implement the 2003 UN Convention Against Corruption, which came into force in December 2005.

"The success of this meeting shows that international cooperation and exchanges on striking at the crimes of graft and bribery have entered a new stage," Jia said in a short statement on his organization's website.

Chinese President
Hu Jintao opened the meeting on Sunday, using the occasion to highlight his crackdown on corruption in Chinese government ranks, a scourge that has threatened the legitimacy of his ruling Communist Party.

Scores of officials and businessmen have been implicated in China's biggest political corruption scandal in more than a decade, which has brought down Shanghai's top party chief Chen Liangyu.

"To firmly punish and prevent corruption is the longstanding policy of the Chinese government," Hu told the meeting.

"The fight against corruption is an important issue linked to the future development of the nation, the basic interests of the people and the establishment of social justice and a harmonious and stable society."

During the meeting, China's deputy prosecutor, Wang Zhenchuan, said more than 17,500 corrupt officials were prosecuted and punished in the first eight months of this year in the country.

According to Transparency International, a global corruption watchdog, China, along with Sri Lanka and Suriname, ranked equal 78th out of 158 countries in its 2005 corruption index.

The three countries scored 3.2 on a ten-point scale, where 10 represents clean government.