In his keynote speech delivered at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, President Xi Jinping announced eight major steps China will take to promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, one of which emphasizes the importance of promoting integrity-based Belt and Road cooperation.
China will collaborate with its partners to release the two documents “Achievements and Prospects of Belt and Road Integrity Building” and “High-Level Principles on Belt and Road Integrity Building”; establish an integrity and compliance evaluation system for companies involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI); and cooperate with international organizations to carry out BRI integrity research and training.
Integrity building is crucial to the success of the BRI, which primarily aims at infrastructure development. Unfortunately, infrastructure projects are often vulnerable to corruption, as exemplified by corruption scandals involving World Bank infrastructure projects in past years.
These scandals included bribery, bid rigging, collusion among contractors, overbilling, embezzlement, irregularities in the procurement process, inflated costs, kickbacks, mismanagement of funds, and even the creation of nonexistent schools known as “ghost schools” to receive funding from the World Bank for education enhancement projects.
The West has been scrutinizing the BRI projects over the past decade, hunting for signs of corruption. Still, they must be most disappointed as they could not uncover any major corruption scandals in the BRI projects. This is largely because of the strict supervision implemented by China. When China established the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to finance BRI projects, it appointed a former head of the Corruption Prevention Department of Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to oversee compliance. The expertise of the ICAC was applied to develop an effective compliance system for the bank. However, given the growing complexity and volume of the projects, President Xi rightly emphasizes the importance of continuously strengthening integrity building to safeguard future successes.
Corruption knows no boundaries and undermines fairness, justice and the global financial and security order. Therefore, it is mutually beneficial for all BRI participating countries to strengthen international cooperation on cross-border enforcement. In a subforum on creating a “clean Silk Road”, hosted by China’s National Supervisory Commission, all BRI participating countries and international organizations pledged to expand and improve cooperation in tackling corruption.
This pledge, incorporated into the document “Achievements and Prospects of Belt and Road Integrity Building”, calls for cooperation in finance, taxation, intellectual property rights and environmental protection to establish a stable, fair and transparent framework of rules and governance for the BRI. It highlights the significance of strengthening supervision on BRI projects, urging participants to strictly adhere to laws and regulations in project bidding, construction, operation and management.
During the same subforum, Professor Guo Yong, dean of the Institute of Discipline Inspection and Supervision of Tsinghua University (the Tsinghua Institute), released the research results of the Belt and Road Corporate Integrity and Compliance Evaluation System. The launch of this evaluation system for enterprises involved in the BRI is aimed at guiding companies to improve their governance structure, prevent and control compliance risks, enhance their international competitiveness, and contribute to building a fairer, transparent and compliant business environment for participating countries.
The evaluation system draws on concepts and methods from existing evaluation systems at home and abroad and relevant legal provisions and compliance guidelines from different governments and international organizations. The evaluation results are divided into five grades to objectively reflect enterprise integrity and compliance’s current state and effectiveness. This provides a systematic and scientific evaluation tool for BRI enterprises, guiding them to improve their governance structure and mitigate compliance risks in BRI projects.
While the West has been promoting the ISO 37001 evaluation and accreditation system in recent years, enterprises involved in the program have found that they have to pay substantial consultation fees to obtain accreditation, which do not guarantee the long-term sustainability of free-from-corruption threats. The Tsinghua Institute system, based on extensive theoretical research and practical exploration of Chinese and foreign multinational enterprises participating in BRI projects, appears to be a better alternative. The Tsinghua Institute has already completed evaluation of over 400 enterprises, and the release of detailed results shortly will be of great interest.
Drawing on my 27 years of experience in the ICAC, and another 20 years as an international anti-corruption consultant, I would like to propose a few measures to enhance integrity building in the BRI further:
First, I propose the establishment of a BRI anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) network to facilitate the direct exchange of intelligence and operational support among the ACAs of the 150 BRI participating countries. The areas of international cooperation can be similar to those stated in the UN Convention Against Corruption (Articles 43-60), covering mutual legal assistance, asset tracing and recovery, joint investigations, tracing of wanted persons, and extradition. This network would enhance the operational efficiency and effectiveness of all ACAs in BRI participating countries, thereby providing a strong deterrent against corrupt practices in BRI projects.
Second, a network of universities in BRI countries can be established to exchange knowledge on training and education programs on integrity, compliance and anti-corruption measures specifically tailored to the needs of BRI projects. This network would enable sharing of best practices, research findings and case studies, promoting a culture of integrity and compliance among professionals involved in BRI projects. Unfortunately, even in China, only some universities have integrity education in their curriculum.
Integrity education should be made a mandatory subject in all universities in BRI countries. By incorporating integrity education into the curriculum, universities can play a crucial role in fostering a culture of ethical behavior among students, preparing them to uphold high standards of integrity in their professional lives. This would ensure that future graduates involved in BRI-related projects fully understand the importance of personal integrity and ethics and avoid corruption and conflicts of interest.
Third, universities in Hong Kong should be encouraged to organize integrity courses for BRI countries and enterprises. An exemplary initiative in this regard is the postgraduate certificate course on corruption studies offered by HKU Space, which has attracted around 400 participants from 45 countries over the years.
Fourth, the ICAC should take on an even more proactive role in providing training for BRI countries. In recent years, the ICAC has shared its extensive experience in combating corruption in Hong Kong through visits and conducted approximately 50 training courses for 60 BRI participating countries, involving 2,000 participants. With the establishment of the ICAC Academy, more courses could be offered to BRI countries, and the government should ensure sufficient funding is provided to support this important endeavor.
The timing is opportune as the ICAC assumed the presidency of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA) last year. As a global organization comprising 140 countries’ anti-corruption agencies, like Interpol, the IAACA can facilitate joint research and training projects with BRI countries, promoting the highest level of public integrity in the 150 participating countries. Such collaborations testify to the effectiveness of integrity building among developing countries and can counterbalance any perceived hegemony or harassment from the West.
Finally, it may be beneficial to require each enterprise to employ a certified integrity manager to enhance integrity management in BRI-participating enterprises. These managers would possess professional integrity management and compliance knowledge obtained through attending integrity training courses and gaining appropriate working experience. The IAACA could serve as the accreditation authority for certified integrity managers.
It is hoped that the chief executive will commit the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and its financial support to enable the ICAC to contribute to an integrity-based BRI. By demonstrating a strong commitment to integrity, Hong Kong can play a vital role in ensuring the success and sustainability of the BRI.
The author is an adjunct professor of HKU Space and a retired deputy commissioner of Hong Kong’s International Commission Against Corruption.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
