Over the past five years, local procuratorates have recovered almost 1.3 billion yuan (about US$157 million) from corrupt officials who abused their power for their own financial gain.
Wang Shuangjin, director of the anti-corruption bureau of the Beijing municipal procuratorate, disclosed the information during a recent interview with Xinhua.
According to the official, in 2002, the city set up a network aimed at dissuading officials from engaging in corrupt activities. The network has played an important role in detecting and interrupting crime through inter-departmental coordination.
In the first 11 months of 2002, local procurators handled 62 major corruption cases involving one million yuan or more (about US$120,000), 79 cases related to government officials at the level of county magistrate, and 27 cases related to municipal officials.
Almost 170 million yuan (about US$20.5 million) was recovered in these cases.
(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2003)
