BEIJING: In the first nine months of this year, 77,000 current or former village heads and Party chiefs have been investigated in China, an increase of 31,000 compared to last year, as the central government’s anti-corruption campaign delves deeper into the grassroots level.
Data from the country’s top watchdog showed figures from January to September this year exceeded the total number of such officials investigated last year — 61,000 — with the supervision of grassroots officials being strengthened amid intensified rural vitalization efforts.
From January to September, disciplinary watchdogs handled 642,000 cases across the country, including investigations into officials at various levels, with 58 at the provincial and ministerial levels, according to a recent release from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Among the officials investigated, about 3,260 are at the department and bureau levels, 26,000 are at the county level and 89,000 are at the township level, data showed. At the annual plenary session of the CCDI in January, the central leadership emphasized the need to extend the anti-corruption campaign to the grassroots level to better ensure justice for the people. A targeted crackdown on corruption and misconduct in rural vitalization efforts was also stressed in the No 1 central document for 2024 released in February, which outlined the priorities for promoting rural vitalization this year. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
