By the end of November, nearly 40 provincial or higher level officials had been snared this year in the ongoing anti-corruption campaign.

Discipline inspectors across China have punished 84,000 for Party discipline and administrative violations.

Between January and September, 27,235 corruption and bribery cases involving 35,633 officials have been investigated, 33,025 of whom are county or lower level officials.

 

Key words I: Caging the 'Big Tigers'

Zhou Yongkang, a State-level official, and Xu Caihou and Su Rong, both vice-State officials, were brought down.

Former security chief Zhou was put under investigation for suspected "serious disciplinary violation" on July 29 this year, by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in what could be China's biggest graft case in history.

Zhou, who was China's third most-powerful politician, served on China's Politburo Standing Committee – the highest decision-making body, until his retirement in Nov 2012.

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee expelled Xu, the highest military official in the previous Chinese leadership, for corruption on June 30. He has been transferred to military prosecutors for further investigation on bribery charges.

Su has been removed from his post as vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, according to a decision made at a CPPCC meeting on June 25. He was removed from his post as deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature on Sept 25.