China recovers USD 40 billion siphoned off by officials

As part of its anti-corruption campaign, China in the first 11 months of this year has recovered a whopping USD 40 billion siphoned off by its officials.
The Audit office said it examined the books of nearly one lakh government offices and state-owned enterprises, recovered 240 billion yuan, (USD 40 billion) state-run CCTV reported.
During the period, the office evaluated the performances of 20,000 officials and more than 200 of them were handed over for judicial and disciplinary inspection for irregularities involving funds totalling some 30 billion yuan (USD five billion), the report said.
Hundreds of officials at various levels in almost all the sectors of the government including the military and health were held for corruption in the anti-graft campaign initiated by President Xi Jinping in the last one year.

The massive anti-corruption campaign by Xi aimed at restoring the credibility of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) rule, its lack of transparency evoked concerns that the crackdown also targeted rival political groups.