ICAC to complement national anti-graft policy and scale new heights following fruitful golden jubilee year
The following press release is issued on behalf of the Independent Commission Against Corruption:
Following a fruitful year that marked its golden jubilee, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is set to complement the country's development and anti-graft policy, continue to combat corruption at full throttle and uphold Hong Kong's integrity and rule of law to achieve greater success in the next 50 years, according to the 2024 ICAC Annual Report issued today (July 16).
Tabling the 2024 ICAC Annual Report at the Legislative Council today, Hon Chan Kin-por, Member of the Executive Council and the Legislature, and Chairman of the ICAC's Advisory Committee on Corruption, noted that 2024 marked a major milestone as the Commission celebrated its 50th anniversary. He commended the ICAC for its relentless pursuit of breakthroughs in local and international anti-corruption initiatives last year, widening and fostering graft-fighting collaborations at home and abroad to showcase the good stories of Hong Kong. He added that the city was globally acclaimed for its performance in the fight against corruption.
Hong Kong ranked 17th out of 180 countries and territories in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2024 released by the Transparency International and was one of the top performers in the Asia-Pacific region. In the latest World Competitiveness Yearbook 2025, Hong Kong's competitiveness improved by two places to the third. Under the indicator "bribery and corruption do not exist", Hong Kong ranked forth globally and topped the Asia-Pacific region. The results bore clear testimony to the ICAC's effective work strategy, as well as the robust rule of law and anti-corruption regime of Hong Kong.
In the 2024 ICAC Annual Report, the ICAC Commissioner, Mr Woo Ying-ming remarked that with Hong Kong's unique advantage of being backed by the motherland and connected to the world, the Commission had strengthened collaboration with anti-corruption counterparts worldwide and contributed significantly to the global graft-fighting cause through the tripartite partnership formed with the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA) and the Hong Kong International Academy Against Corruption (HKIAAC).
"Fighting corruption is both a national policy and a common goal around the globe. With a vision of becoming a world-acclaimed exemplar in the graft-fighting arena, the ICAC strives to entrench the reputation of Hong Kong as a city of probity and continues to push forward the anti-corruption cause globally through the tripartite partnership with the IAACA and the HKIAAC. We will continue to tell the good stories of our motherland, the 'one country, two systems' principle and Hong Kong, and look forward to achieving greater successes in the next 50 years," Mr Woo noted.
The ICAC and the IAACA, of which Mr Woo serves as President, hosted the 8th ICAC Symposium last year. The event gathered over 500 representatives from 180 anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies of nearly 60 jurisdictions in Hong Kong, setting a record in the history of the ICAC. At the Symposium, the IAACA adopted the first-ever international anti-corruption declaration named after Hong Kong, fully manifesting the ICAC's significant status and influence on the global stage.
Established by the ICAC in February last year, the HKIAAC hosted professional anti-corruption training for over 2 200 graft-fighters from more than 70 countries in just one year. The HKIAAC was accredited as a Qualifications Framework Level 5 operator by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications in late 2024. The achievement affirmed the professionalism and credibility of training courses run by the HKIAAC.
During the year, the ICAC also signed Memoranda of Understanding with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and anti-corruption agencies of six "Belt and Road" and other countries to provide a framework to deepen collaboration for combatting and preventing corruption. The ICAC and the UNODC became close strategic partners in the fight against corruption and jointly organised various training programmes. The two parties are working together on a guide on managing corruption risks in prisons, which will serve as reference for prison administrators worldwide.
The ICAC had also adopted a new education and publicity approach and produced creative promotional videos that attracted over 1 million views on social media. Combining education, publicity and the signature "ICAC coffee", Café "1974" opened its door at the ICAC headquarters last year and received a large number of local, Mainland and overseas visitors, hammering home the probity message to a much broader community.
The ICAC also took the initiative to share its experience in engaging young people in the graft-fighting mission. Based on the "Policy Guide for National Anti-Corruption Authorities on Meaningful Youth Engagement in Anti-Corruption Work" (the Guide), a teaching module targeted at graft fighters worldwide was developed by the Commission. In July 2024, with support from the UNODC, the HKIAAC and the IAACA jointly organised a first online seminar to launch the Guide and share practical experiences in engaging young people in anti-corruption work.
Past ICAC Annual Surveys consistently found that members of the public showed zero tolerance towards corruption, and that a culture of integrity had taken root in the society. According to the 2024 Annual Survey, 98.7 per cent of the respondents had not encountered corruption personally in the past year, reaffirming the stable probity situation. In addition, 97.4 per cent of the respondents believed that integrity was important for the development of Hong Kong.
In 2024, the ICAC received a total of 2 058 non-election related corruption complaints, a slight increase by 3 per cent when compared to 2023, showing that the corruption situation in Hong Kong remained stable and under control.
In the public sector, the civil service remained clean and honest. The ICAC completed 63 corruption prevention studies for government departments and public bodies, as a sustained effort to reduce corruption risks in public administration. The Commission also continued to co-organise the "Ethical Leadership Programme" with the Civil Service Bureau, and engaged in exchanges with senior to directorate civil servants through programmes offered by Civil Service College, with a view to deepening the probity culture within government departments.
As for the private sector, the ICAC continued to adopt a holistic strategy to strengthen the corruption prevention capabilities of different industries and sustain Hong Kong's clean and fair business environment.
In regard to the building management sector, the ICAC and the Hong Kong Competition Commission conducted a first ever joint operation and successfully cracked down a newly rising syndicate engaged in corruption and bid-rigging of building maintenance projects. In order to encourage the construction industry to continuously promote integrity management, the ICAC and the Construction Industry Council joined hands in introducing the "Integrity Management Award" in the Outstanding Contractor Award. As regards the finance and insurance sectors, with the full support of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Hong Kong Association of Banks, the ICAC launched the "Banking Industry Integrity Charter" to reinforce Hong Kong's status as an international financial centre.
The ICAC is committed to upholding clean elections. Under the new electoral arrangement upon improvement of the electoral system and district governance system, the ICAC will remain steadfast and will take robust enforcement actions against any corrupt and illegal conduct at future elections, including the Legislative Council Election to be held in late 2025, so as to ensure that the election be conducted in a fair, open and honest manner.
2024 ICAC Annual Report: www.icac.org.hk/icac/annual-report/2024/
Source: AI-found images
