BEIJING - More than 15,000 Chinese officials have been punished for graft or dereliction of duty over the past two years during a nationwide check against irregularities in the construction sectors, a central office in charge of the cleanup said Wednesday.

A total of 15,109 officials received disciplinary or administrative penalties from July 2009 to November this year. Of this total, 7,891 have been transferred to judicial organs for handling, the office said in a statement.

The campaign featured a sweeping overhaul of all government-funded construction projects that had started or completed, or for which plans had been authorized, since 2008.

Construction-related sectors are seen as vulnerable to graft in China. Corruption can occur in various layers of a construction project, from land-use approval to project management, public bidding and construction material purchases.

Many corruption cases concern officials taking bribes and exchanging public resources for personal gain by illegally intervening in construction projects, according to officials.