China has rung in changes to its many telephone hotlines to make it easier and potentially more lucrative for people to raise the alarm about corrupt officials.

Numerous phone numbers available to whistle-blowers wanting to report possible crimes to the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) and several local provincial procuratorates now have been rolled into one corruption-busting number: 12309.

People are being encouraged to use the new number to report bribery, dereliction of duty, unlawful detention, unlawful searches and the illegal coercion of suspects.

"People can easily remember, and refer to others, the simplified and unitary hotline number, meaning more informants may provide crime clues or opinions," an official from the SPP, who did not want to be named, told China Daily yesterday.

"It will promote the public's monitoring of government administration," she said.

The Procuratorate Daily reported that the confidential 24-hour hotline will be supported by a new web domain, also for reporting corruption to the SPP. The address is www.12309.gov.cn.

The procuratorate in Hunan plans to award informants up to 10 percent of recovered bribes, Chang Zhiyu, vice-chief and spokesman of Hunan procuratorate was quoted as saying in China News Service yesterday.

Government figures show that last year, 2,001 civil servants were found guilty of job-related crimes. A total of 35.9 million yuan was recovered.

The informants and the clues they provide have become important sources for investigators, both in terms of tips and as ways to collect evidence.

The provincial people's procurator in Hunan province received 16,676 tips in the year ending May 2009.

Source: China Daily