More than 40 percent of those accused of graft or corruption in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, are under 45 years old, showing more young people are committing these crimes than before, the Guangzhou judicial bureau has said.

Such criminals include government officials or employees at large companies, who abuse their power in order to commit illegal activities.

In a survey by the Guangzhou judicial bureau, from 2000 to 2006, there were 2,158 criminal cases, involving 2,264 criminals.

Of these, 673 involved people younger than 45 years old, accounting for 41.9 percent of criminal cases.

"Most (of these) criminals are smart, have good educational backgrounds and high-ranking positions," Lu Tiefeng, director of the Guangzhou judicial bureau, said.

In the past, such criminals were usually around 60 years old. "Because they were going to retire they stole money for their post-retirement life," Lu said.

Things are different today, he said. Some young people have unrealistic expectations about their income and future. They pursue luxurious lifestyles, but when they encounter failure or frustration they lose confidence and consider criminal behavior.

These kinds of cases usually occurred in State-owned enterprises, architecture organizations and government departments, Lu said.

The people's prosecutors' office of Guangzhou said a Guangzhou man, Liu Ruihan, 28, who graduated from college four years ago, misappropriated 27 million yuan ($3.5 million) of public money. He was given a life sentence.

"Another motive for this criminal activity is some young people have large loans when they graduate from school, or they have to take care of their family. They steal money to ease their financial burdens," Qiu Ling, an official from the anti-corruption division of the prosecutors' office of Guangzhou, said.

(China Daily December 5, 2007)