China punishes 4,417 officials in frugality campaign

The Communist Party of China's (CPC) top anti-graft body said Monday that 4,417 officials had been punished for violating austerity rules in July.

They were involved in 3,044 cases, according to the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) website.

Awarding unauthorized bonuses was the most common misdemeanor, while sending or accepting gifts and misuse of public vehicles were the second- and third-most common, with these cases numbering 799, 562 and 463 respectively.

The CPC released its eight-point rules on austerity in late 2012 to reduce undesirable work practices.

As many as 22,200 cases of party discipline violations have so far been investigated in 2016, while administrative measures have been applied against 31,310 individuals.

After assuming office as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China in 2012, President Xi Jinping launched a large-scale campaign against corruption, targeting primarily high-level officials in the Communist Party, the armed forces and state-run enterprises.
  [Xinhua]