According to the relevant regulations, civil servants are not allowed to do business. Article 53 of the Civil Servants Law stipulates that civil servants shall not engage in or participate in profit-making activities, or work part-time in enterprises. The punishment regulations also make it clear that if the regulations are violated, the punishment of demerit or major demerit will generally be given, the punishment of demotion or removal will be given if the circumstances are more serious, and the punishment of expulsion will be given if the circumstances are serious.
So can relatives of civil servants do business?
Whether a civil servant can do business depends on his rank, whether he holds a leading position, and whether he or she is close to his kinship. At present, the "Regulations on the Management of the Spouses, Children and Their Spouses of Leading Cadres Doing Business and Running Enterprises" of the General Office of the People's Republic of China regulates leading cadres at the bureau level (excluding cadres at the rank level), and their relatives only manage their spouses, children and their spouses, and do not manage their parents, collateral blood relatives, close relatives and other relatives. The "Provisions" have set forth requirements for the spouses, children, and spouses of leading cadres at different levels and in different categories to engage in business and run enterprises; the higher the level of leading cadres, the stricter the requirements, and the comprehensive departments are stricter than other departments.
Moreover, the "Provisions" require that when leading cadres report on relevant personal matters every year, they should truthfully fill in the information on the business and enterprise activities of their spouses, children, and their spouses, and report in a timely manner the situation of newly created business enterprises after the annual centralized report. Where it is discovered that a relevant business enterprise has violated the prohibition of business, the leading cadres shall be ordered to make an explanation, and their spouses, children, and their spouses shall withdraw from the business and run enterprises, or the leading cadres themselves shall retire from their current posts or accept job adjustments, and the leading cadres shall be given corresponding sanctions in light of the circumstances. Among them, leading cadres who are to be promoted or further used should be checked in conjunction with the "four musts" for the selection and appointment of cadres, and those who do not meet the requirements on the prohibition of work in the posts to be appointed should withdraw from doing business and running enterprises, and those who do not agree to withdraw will not be appointed.