China's anti-graft agencies nationwide investigate 316,000 cases in H1

BEIJING, July 22 (Xinhua) -- China's discipline inspection and supervision agencies nationwide have investigated 316,000 cases in the first half of the year, the country's top anti-graft authority announced on Saturday.

According to a statement released by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision, the cases involved 36 officials who were registered with and supervised by the CPC Central Committee.

A total of 258,000 officials have been punished, including 18 at the provincial or ministerial level.

According to the statement, during the first half of the year, discipline inspection and supervision agencies in China received over 1.68 million reports of suspected violations from the public, and the authorities handled 828,000 cases in which relevant violations have been implicated.

In addition to launching investigations, the anti-graft agencies also dealt with some minor wrongdoings committed by officials through oral or written inquiries in 170,000 cases, according to the statement.