SPP sees 24% rise in cases of graft, situation 'remains grave'

Prosecutors in China have investigated 10,840 people suspected of involvement in bribery, corruption and embezzlement in the first quarter of this year, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Wednesday at a press conference.

Some 6,759 people were investigated for embezzling more than 100,000 yuan ($16,100) or taking bribes of more than 50,000 yuan, accounting for 82.2 percent of all cases.

Some 661 people involved in corruption cases were officials at county-level or above, accounting for 6.1 percent of all cases, according to the SPP.

Xu Jinhui, director of the SPP's anti-corruption bureau, said the number of corruption cases in the first quarter of this year has risen 24 percent compared with last year and the number of suspects involved in these cases has risen by 19.8 percent.

Xu further said the number of cases involving county-level officials or above has seen a rise of 46.9 percent in the first quarter this year. The number of cases in which the bribery amount reached 50,000 yuan or the embezzlement amount reached 100,000 yuan has seen a rise of 26.9 percent.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) launched a nationwide campaign, which is still ongoing, to crack down on corruption at the end of 2012.

On Wednesday, chief of CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Wang Qishan, urged Party committees at all levels to shoulder the responsibility to discipline their subordinate groups.

"The anti-corruption situation remains grave," said Wang.