Senior judicial officials on Friday rejected claims that bribe-givers are granted undue leniency compared with those who receive bribes, saying that the penalties are in line with the degree of social harm caused.

Officials launched a broadside at foreign media reports, adding that the giving and taking of bribes "were two kinds of crimes with very different characteristics".

While bribing and accepting bribes are related illegal activities, Chinese law attaches particular importance to cracking down on those who take bribes, as it is considered a "serious crime", often involving State officials.

The government has taken an uncompromising stance against bribery. Zheng Xiaoyu, the former head of the State Food and Drug Administration, was executed on July 10 for accepting $850,000 in bribes.

The court also ruled Zheng put people's lives at risk by accepting bribes for approval-related favors.

Supreme People's Procuratorate spokesman Tong Jianming said any official found accepting bribes "must be dealt with severely".

"The relatively lighter penalties to bribers and heavier ones to the bribe takers has been based on the different degree of social harm caused by each," Tong said.

"The position of the Supreme People's Procuratorate is very clear that we also strike hard at bribers as bribery has a very harmful social impact."

He was echoed by Ni Shouming, a spokesman for the Supreme People's Court, who said that Chinese courts also handed down severe sentences to "major" bribers whose activities resulted in "serious social harm".

Small-time bribers, or those dealing with small amounts of money, are not dealt with as severely, Ni said.

Authorities need bribers' assistance to help prosecute those accepting bribes.

"A majority number of bribery cases cannot be carried out without evidence or testimony from bribers," Ni said.

In one recent major graft case, former Shanghai property tycoon Zhou Zhengyi was charged with misappropriation of funds, bribery and forging VAT receipts.

Zhou was detained last October as prosecutors investigated the Shanghai social security fund scandal involving 3.7 billion yuan.

In early August, four prison officials in Shanghai were jailed for taking bribes and "providing preferential treatment" to Zhou during his incarceration.

However, Ni proposed the establishment of an official blacklist of convicted bribers.

"Bribers found guilty should not be allowed to return to the field of work they were previously engaged in," Ni said.

Chen Guangzhong, a legal expert at the Chinese University of Politics and Law, said the fight against graft requires a comprehensive property declaration system for State officials.

Chen said the establishment of an open, strict property declaration system was still far off in China, even though some Western countries had established such a system for people in public office.

(China Daily September 1, 2007)