A blacklist of bribers is being weighed by prosecutors as part of prevention drive against corrupt government officials and businesses.

Previously convicted officials and businessmen, and those known to have fled overseas with their illegal gains, will not escape the naming and shaming. The prevention strategy also includes early warning lectures which seek to educate about the law.

If successful, the measures could be rolled out across the country. Wang Zhenchuan, deputy head of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), said yesterday the SPP has strengthened anti-corruption measures in five pilot regions.

In Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan provinces, Chongqing Municipality and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local procuratorates have set up a record of known and convicted bribers.

Hundreds of individuals and organizations could have drawn attention from prosecutors, sources said.

"Such measures are expected to keep away those people with intentions of providing bribery to officials," Wang said.

And procuratorates have also started giving legal lectures on preventing corruption to officials and the business community with the aim of putting them on "high alert" of corruption .

"One business man said to me that by us going to them armed with legal lectures today, is much better than arresting him or his peers tomorrow," Zhang Xuejun, chief prosecutor in Guangdong Province said.

Zhang and his colleagues often give lectures on the prevention of corruption to the governmental bodies, institutions and companies.

"Leaders of various organizations have now come to realize they should pay closer attention to prevention so as to eliminate the corruption problem from its root sources," he said.

"Most of the organizations who asked for help are those who had painful lessons in the past.

"They know how important it is discourage misconduct in their organizations because they have paid a heavy price before," Zhang said.

Prevention is key

Prevention is key to establish an anti-corruption system in the country, said Wang.

"We should put education and supervision at the core of setting up an anti-corruption system," he said at the second national conference on tackling corruption among government and business.

The meeting was called in the wake of the issue by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) 10 days ago, which focused on establishing an anti-corruption mechanism across the country.

Jia Chunwang, head of the SPP, said the document demonstrated "the Party's strong resolution of cracking down any kinds of job-related crimes."

He also urged prosecutors to keep close eyes on officials known to indulge in corrupt practice.

"For those corrupt officials who are still at large in foreign countries, they always have to prepare several things. They have to look for a destination, transfer the capital and settle in a new home overseas," he said. "But they leave a lot of tracks when doing all this."

Editor: Olivia