A senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official on Wednesday required local governments to stay awaw from corruption in selecting officials.

He Guoqiang, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, demanded that local governments follow regulations on selecting cadres to guard against practices such as selling and buying government posts or bribing for higher positions.

He stressed that whether an official is honest, tolerant and uncorrupted, able to handle complicated situations and carry out democratic centralism is important criteria for appointing him or her to government positions.

He said those in charge of selecting cadres should review officials in line with objective assessment.

(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2005)