China’ s top anti-graft agencies report: 185,000 officials disciplined

China's discipline inspection and supervisory authorities disciplined 185,000 individuals in the first quarter of 2025, including 14 officials at the provincial or ministerial level, according to the latest report released on Tuesday by the website of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Supervisory Commission.

Among the 834,000 petition and complaint submissions in the first quarter of 2025, 231,000 were categorized as whistleblower complaints. Authorities reviewed 502,000 leads and opened 220,000 formal investigations.

Of those investigated, 13 were provincial or ministerial-level officials, 1,037 were at the department- and bureau-level, 8,285 at the county-level, and 27,000  township-level. Additionally, 19,000 current or former village Party branch secretaries and village committee directors were investigated.

In the first quarter of this year, disciplinary organs took action against 185,000 individuals across the country. Among them, 139,000 received Party discipline punishments while 60,000 were subjected to administrative discipline punishments.

Those disciplined included 14 officials at the provincial or ministerial level, 910 at the at the department- and bureau-level, 7,216 at the county-level, 23,000 at the township- level, and 24,000 general government employees. In addition, approximately 130,000 individuals from rural areas, enterprises, and other sectors were also punished for various violations.

Li Gang, former head of the discipline inspection and supervision team sent to the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee by the CPC CCDI and the National Commission of Supervision, has been investigated by the National Commission of Supervision over suspected bribery, and the case has been concluded and transferred to the procuratorial authorities for review and prosecution. 

Mobilization and arrangement meeting for a yearlong campaign to make discipline inspection and supervision work more procedure-based, law-based and standardized, in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 25, 2025. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

Recently, the Supreme People's Procuratorate approved the arrest of Li on suspicion of bribery in accordance with the law. The case is currently under further investigation, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

During the same period, disciplinary bodies applied the "four forms" of discipline supervision and enforcement to a total of 375,000 individuals. Among them, 187,000 individuals—accounting for 49.9% of the total—were subject to the first form, which focuses on criticism and education. The second form was applied to 149,000 individuals, making up 39.6% of the total. The third form was used in handling 20,000 individuals (5.3%), while the fourth form was applied to 19,000 individuals (5.2%).

The four forms refer to four levels of punishment and supervision: criticism and self-criticism as well as inquiries through interview or letters should be the most common; minor disciplinary penalties should make up the majority; severely punished or demoted officials should be a small proportion; and those prosecuted for law-breaking should be extremely few, according to Xinhua.

The CPC CCDI and the National Supervisory Commission emphasized the continued commitment to investigating both those who accept and those who offer bribes, with a total of 7,027 individuals involved in offering bribes placed under investigation, and 954 of them transferred to prosecutors for further legal action, said the report.

The detailed figures once again send a strong signal that the fight against corruption will not pause for a moment or retreat in the slightest, said the report.

Global Times