3 lakh officials punished in China last year for corruption

Among them 82,000 were handed severe disciplinary punishments and major demotions

About three lakh Chineseofficials were punishedlast year in the anti-corruption campaign carried out by the rulingCommunist Party of China, official media reported today.

Among them, 200,000 officials were given light disciplinary punishments and transferred to other posts, and 82,000 were handed severe disciplinary punishments and major demotions.

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Ten centrally appointed and administered officials were given severe disciplinary penalties for serious violations against the Communist Party of China (CPC) code of conduct.

The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection penalised them with drastic demotions, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Liu Lizu, for example, was dismissed from the post of vice chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and demoted to entry-level public servant.

The CPC discipline watchdog has been highlighting the importance of the Party code of conduct in order to spot problems earlier and prevent officials from slipping into corruption.

Thousands of officials including some senior party leaders and military officials were punished in the anti-graft campaign initiated by President Xi Jinping since he took over power in 2013.

China's top discipline inspector Wang Qishan said in September 2015 that officials subject to minor disciplinary penalties should be the majority of those punished, while those who receive severe punishments or demotions should just be a small proportion, and those prosecuted for breaking the law should be even fewer.