In the first half of this year, almost 5,000 Party officials
were punished for accepting "gift money" or gambling, said
spokesman Gan Yisheng for the Central Commission for Discipline
Inspection of the Communist Party of China (CPC)
on Thursday.
Between January and June, 10,319 officials of different levels
handed over, on their own initiative, items like cash and
securities worth 62.46 million yuan (about US$7.7 million). 359
were disciplined for failing to do so.
In the same period, 4,627 officials were punished for
involvement in gambling, which is illegal in China.
Central disciplinary inspectors were sent to check 20
provincial-level governments, the Xinjiang Production and
Construction Corps, and nine big banks.
On July 15, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
and the Ministry of Supervision started a website to receive
complaints about officials.
To date, 12 provincial-level Party discipline inspection
commissions and over 100 prefecture-level commissions have started
similar websites.
(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2005)