China mulls penalties for officials accepting cash gifts

China's top legislature will consider imposing penalties on government officials who accept cash gifts but defend themselves from bribe-taking charges.

The National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee will convene a bimonthly session from October 27 to November 1, and lawmakers will consider a series of draft laws and amendments, including a draft amendment to the criminal law, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Officials accepting cash gifts are not susceptible to criminal charges under the current law, and many crooked officials have sought to defend themselves from bribe-taking charges by alleging that the bribes they took were only gifts from friends, it said.
 

The proposed law will deem receiving cash gifts of a considerable amount punishable for all government officials, the report said, citing Chen Xingliang, a law professor at Peking University.

The penalties for "accepting cash gifts", however, will be lighter compared to those for taking bribes, Chen said.