SETTING OFF: Wang Qishan, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, launches the commission's official website in Beijing on September 2 (PANG XINGLEI)

For Bai Jianjun, a 53-year-old villager from Sanyuan County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the newly launched official website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opens a new door to justice. The CCDI is the top discipline watchdog of the Party.

On September 2, the CCDI officially launched ccdi.gov.cn, integrating the resources of five previous anti-corruption websites. It features anti-corruption news, policies and case studies.

The website is most noteworthy for its function that allows people to tip off the CCDI to corruption and other disciplinary violations. It also has links that direct visitors to the websites of the provincial-level discipline inspection commissions of the Party and the agencies of provincial-level governments that handle public petitions.

On September 14, Bai used the CCDI's website to report corruption by Meng Xiaosuo, Sanyuan's deputy police chief. When submitting his report, he was offered the option of remaining anonymous or using his real name. Wang chose to use his real name because such reports are given priority.

"After reading the message telling me that my report had been successfully submitted, I was really excited. Hope is here," Bai told Beijing-based Time Weekly.

Bai submitted his report to expose Meng's illegal business operations. China's Civil Service Law forbids civil servants from engaging in business. But in April 2006, Meng and Bai's younger brother set up a vegetable trading company, each contributing half of the company's total registered capital, Bai said.

In November 2007, Bai's younger brother died from illness, leaving behind a daughter. Since she was a minor, Bai became her guardian and began to manage the trading company on her behalf. While managing the company, Bai and Meng often disagreed and gradually came to hold a grudge against one another.

Meng arranged a meeting with Bai at a teahouse on April 8. Bai waited for hours, but Meng did not show up.

On his way home, Bai was assaulted and his legs were broken. Bai believes that Meng sent the attackers, as there was nobody else he had disputes with. He reported the incident to local police authorities, which said that they would investigate. Several months passed, the case remained unresolved. Bai began to report Meng's behavior .

Effective method

Since 2005, the CCDI and local anti-corruption agencies launched a number of websites aimed at tackling corruption. Since these earlier websites lacked standardized domain names, content or format, whistleblowers could not identify or access them easily.

On October 28, 2009 the CCDI launched 12388.gov.cn to accept public tip-offs and suggestions on curbing corruption. In the first month, that website received 13,800 reports, averaging 460 a day, according to CCDI. Yet after the first month, the website's traffic declined. In the first quarter of 2013, the website received an average of 150-200 reports daily.

To increase public awareness of its official website, the CCDI placed an icon that reads, "I want to report" on its homepage.

On September 22, the CCDI announced procedures for receiving and handling petitions and reports from the public, explaining ways the public could report cases, the kinds of complaints handled, petitioners' rights and the body's obligations.

The CCDI said that it will handle reports on disciplinary violations committed by Party organizations and members; complaints on Party members and officials who refuse punishment; and suggestions on Party building and discipline supervision.

Public complaints will be accepted through letters, online posts, personal visits and hotlines and will then be assigned to the relevant departments.

As for cases within the jurisdiction of local disciplinary bodies or procuratorial departments, the commission will transfer the cases to them, urging them to investigate and report the results, the CCDI said.

In the first month after the launch of the new website, the CCDI's website received more than 24,800 reports, averaging more than 800 per day, according to a news report by Xinhua News Agency.

"The website is a new tool in the fight against corruption," said Dai Yanjun, Vice Dean of the Party Building Teaching and Research Department, the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

"Reporting corruption online is convenient, fast and highly confidential, and the website provides an opportunity for direct communication between the general public and high-level anti-graft authorities," Dai said.