China's top 10 scandals in 2013(2)

No 6: Academics

In September, Zhang Shuguang, former deputy chief engineer of the then Ministry of Railways, confessed during his trial that he spent 23 million yuan ($3.7 million) on buying votes to try and gain membership of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The CAS responded on Sept 11, saying that it had not received any complaint about fraud in an honorary academic election involving a former railway official.

No 7: Temporary workers

In its edition of June 17, China Newsweek magazine published a cover story "More trouble for temporary workers", criticizing "arrogance and prejudice of public power" after temporary workers repeatedly became the scapegoat in a number of government scandals.

A survey by the Beijing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the nation's top advisory body, showed that the capital's chengguan office had 7,000 civil servants and 6,500 temporary workers in 2011.

No 8: Journalists

In late October, Chen Yongzhou, a reporter for New Express, confessed that he accepted bribes to defame the State-owned construction equipment maker Zoomlion. The reports resulted in the company's share price dropping and public accusations against its management.

New Express apologized for the stories, vowing to strengthen management of its employees and publication procedure.

No 9: "Expert opinions"

Experts, or Zhuangjia in Mandarin, are often unflatteringly referred to by netizens as "bricks" (zhuan has a similar pronunciation) since they have been known to utter some controversial statements.

One prime example concerns Dong Fan, director of the Real Estate Research Center with Beijing Normal University, He triggered an online outcry in September when he said that property prices in Beijing were not high, and could reach 800,000 yuan per square meter in about 25 years.

No 10: Movie director

Zhang Yimou, a renowned movie director, made headlines in November for violating the law that limits most urban couples to one child.

Zhang said in an open letter on Dec 1 that he, and his wife, Chen Ting, have two sons and a daughter and they are willing to receive punishment in line with the law and regulations. He apologized to the public.