Stephen Cook: Seems the 36,907 figure given in this original story from just four days ago on January 7, 2013 was WAY short of the mark: http://goldenageofgaia.com/2014/01/massive-investigation-china-probes-36907-officials-for-corruption/ Additionally, some of the country’s highest level administrators are now being prosecuted. See Story 2.

From The Nation  -January 11, 2014

BEIJING : China’s ruling Communist Party punished more than 182,000 officials last year in its high-profile anti-corruption campaign, authorities said Friday.

Anti-graft authorities across the country last year received more than 1.95 million allegations of corruption and agreed to investigate 172,532 cases, said Huang Shuxian, a deputy head of the ruling party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, at a briefing.

Huang said that as a result, a total of 182,038 officials were given disciplinary punishment, which can range from a mere warning to expulsion from the Party or worse.

“Disciplinary authorities at all levels… upheld imposing punishment upon all the corrupt,” he said. Communist chief Xi Jinping has taken a much-publicised hard line against graft since coming to power a little over one year ago, warning that corruption could destroy the party.

Graft causes widespread public anger and Xi has pledged to stamp down on high-ranking officials, or “tigers”, along with low-level “flies” to maintain the purity of the organisation.

At the same time he has mounted an austerity drive, with a range of measures including limits on banquets and bans on gift-giving.

So far at least 19 officials at vice-ministerial level or above have fallen since November last year, including Jiang Jiemin, head of China’s state-owned assets watchdog, and Li Dongsheng, formerly a vice minister of public security.

China’s President Xi JinpingXi has pledged to stamp down on high-ranking officials, or “tigers”, along with low-level “flies” to maintain the purity of the organization.

China: Eight High-Level Officials to be Prosecuted

From BRICSPost – January 10, 2014

http://thebricspost.com/cpc-names-8-corrupt-officials-to-be-prosecuted/

In a boost to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive, more high ranking Chinese officials were probed for graft last year.

The Communist Party of China’s discipline watchdog closed graft investigations into eight high-profile officials and handed over their cases to prosecutors in 2013, said a senior Chinese official on Friday.

The provincial and ministerial level officials being probed are Zhou Zhenhong, Liu Tienan, Ni Fake, Wang Suyi, Li Daqiu, Tong Mingqian, Yang Kun and Qi Pingjing, said a CPC official Huang Shuxian at a press conference in Beijing.

As China’s fight against corruption picks up steam, these were among 31 high-profile officials investigated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) last year.

23 other high-profile Chinese officials are still under investigation, including Jiang Jiemin, former head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and Li Dongsheng, former vice minister of public security.

Last year, the ruling CPC punished about 182,000 officials nationwide, 13.3 per cent more than in 2012, according to Huang.

The CCDI also announced in December a regulation that requires officials to report and disclose their family assets.