BEIJING, July 7 -- The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Tuesday prosecuting agencies across China probed 24,187 people in the first five months of 2015 in duty-related cases, including 1,891 officials at the county level or higher, an 18.6-percent rise from the same period last year.

The top procuratorate said 12 officials at the provincial level or above were indicted, including Zhou Yongkang, former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

The figures were revealed at a conference attended by high-ranking procurators. The SPP said those investigated for suspected bribery and corruption accounted for 3,825 of the total, an 11-percent rise.

At the conference, top procurator Cao Jianming urged procuratorial organs at all levels to maintain their high-handed stance in targeting graft cases, especially for officials who show no intention of correcting their misdeeds.

Procuratorial organs should prevent duty-related crimes and graft from harming China's reform and enable the stable development of the economy, Cao said.