440 senior Chinese officials probed for corruption

Disciplinary authorities have investigated 440 senior officials for corruption over the past five years, an official said on Thursday.

Among those investigated were 43 members and alternate members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee as well as nine members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), said Yang Xiaodu, Deputy Secretary of the CCDI, on the sidelines of the 19th CPC National Congress.

Five years ago, the CPC leadership launched a high-profile anti-corruption campaign which led to the downfall of a number of high-level officials known as "tigers" and lower-level "flies" who served at the grassroots level, Xinhua news agency reported.

Among the "tigers" targeted in the campaign were Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai, Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou, Sun Zhengcai and Ling Jihua.

Yang said more than 8,900 city level officials and over 63,000 county level officials were punished during that period.

A total of 278,000 grassroots Party members and officials were also punished, he said.

China is working with the international community to hunt down corruption suspects who had fled overseas, leading to the capture of 3,453 fugitives, Yang said. - IANS