Beijing hits officials with stricter travel restrictions

(ECNS) -- The Beijing municipal government has adopted new measures to restrict its mid-level and higher ranking officials from leaving the country for personal reasons, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Friday.

In general, officials at or higher than the level of division chief in the municipal government are not allowed to go abroad for personal reasons, at least not without strict examination for approval, the report said.

Some officials must also hand over their passports to be held by their departments, it added.

A division chief told the newspaper that he had been asked to hand in his passport last month. He said he gave up plans to take his family abroad, as he had to report to the most senior supervisor for permission to get his passport.

Many civil servants in the city government have also confirmed the restriction.

The measures have been rolled out amid the government's anti-graft campaign against "naked officials," whose spouses and children have emigrated overseas, the report said.

The system of civil servants in China has 27 different rankings. Division chiefs rank 15th or 16th, the same as county-level heads.