Legal campaign against corruption continues

Procuratorates at all levels prosecuted 78,000 people involved in duty crimes over the past five years, according to the annual work report of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

The report was delivered by procurator-general Zhang Jun to the ongoing first session of the 14th National People's Congress for deliberation on Tuesday.

Among the prosecuted, 104 were former officials at or above the provincial or ministerial level.

Procuratorial organs worked closely with supervisory commissions at all levels to improve the handling of duty crime cases. Upholding the principle of punishing those who take bribes as well as those who give them, SPP and the National Commission of Supervision jointly released examples of typical cases in April last year, promoting the fight against corruption at the root. Over the past five years, about 14,000 people were prosecuted for offering bribes.

Prosecutors also initiated public lawsuits against 48 people given Interpol red notices and brought back to China, and suggested confiscating the illegal gains of 54 people who were involved in corruption but fled or died.

According to the annual work report of the Supreme People's Court, which was delivered by SPC President Zhou Qiang on the same day, courts at all levels concluded 119,000 corruption, bribery and other duty crimes cases involving 139,000 people over the past five years.

The court also severely punished corrupt behaviors against the interests of the public such as embezzling funds for benefiting agriculture, skimping compensation for expropriated land, and embezzling subsidies for renovating dilapidated houses.

Bribe-givers were targeted and severely punished, as the courts concluded 12,000 cases for offering bribes involving 13,000 people and imposed a heavier sentence to those offering bribes repeatedly.

The courts also handled 979 cases involving repatriated fugitives and their illegal gains confiscated, greatly deterring the corrupt.