by Mahmoud Fouly, Abdel-Maguid Kamal
CAIRO, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Egypt and China, which are both resolute in combating corruption, could strengthen anti-corruption cooperation through exchange of expertise, an Egyptian expert told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Nadia Helmy, a political science professor at Egypt's Beni-Suef University, hailed China's fruitful anti-corruption campaign launched by the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) over the past years.
"China has achieved big accomplishments in the field of fighting corruption since the CPC campaign started a massive crackdown on both the 'tigers' and 'flies,' or senior and junior officials, which Egypt can learn from in its similar campaign," said the Egyptian expert.
Helmy, also a visiting lecturer and researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies of Sweden's Lund University, said China has managed to put an end to corruption within the ruling party through the comprehensive work of the CPC's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).
China's anti-graft campaign managed also to retrieve huge sums of money for the state treasury while the CCDI vows to conduct cooperation with other countries to pursue fleeing Chinese officials charged with corruption, Helmy said.
She recommended Egypt and China increase anti-corruption cooperation through the exchange of expertise between China's CCDI and Egypt's counterpart, the Administrative Control Authority (ACA) which has similarly busted several Egyptian officials over corruption charges.
"Egypt also attaches great importance to fighting corruption and it can learn from China's anti-corruption watchdog, the CCDI, and invite Chinese anti-graft experts to explain the latest relevant Chinese theories and methods," Helmy said.
Over the past years, the anti-corruption campaign launched by Egypt's ACA led to the arrests and trials of several senior Egyptian officials, including former ministers of irrigation, agriculture and housing, a former finance minister's adviser, a former governor and a former deputy governor.
In mid-June, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi attended the first African Anti-Corruption Forum hosted by Egypt, with the participation of 51 African states. This demonstrated Egypt's earnestness in pressing ahead with its anti-corruption crusade, Helmy said.
In September last year, Sisi visited China to attend the 2018 summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), in a move that gave a further boost to the China-Egypt cooperation.
Helmy suggested the establishment of a regular Egyptian-African-Chinese forum on fighting corruption under the FOCAC umbrella, so to create a platform for the concerned parties to improve anti-corruption cooperation by exchanging expertise in the field.
