A total of 572 officials were brought to justice in October during the first round of the national audit by China’s Central authorities to combat organized crime.
10 inspection teams were sent to 10 provincial regions of China to carry out the inspection, which lasted one month, Xinhua reports.
According to the results of the work of the inspection teams, a total of 1,791 cases of corruption related to banditry and organized crime were uncovered. In addition, during the inspection period, 10 controlled regions exposed 96 gangs, and assets worth more than 5 billion yuan (726 million dollars) associated with such crimes were confiscated.
The second and third rounds of inspection are scheduled to take place next year to ensure that all regions at the provincial level are audited.
The fight against abuse of power in China intensified with the coming to power in 2012, the “fifth generation” of leaders led by XI Jinping. Over the past few years, as a result of a large-scale anti-corruption campaign, they lost their posts and went to jail, receiving up to life imprisonment, not only ordinary officials, but also high-level officials. According to official statistics, in 2017 alone, more than 159,000 people were subjected to various punishments in China for violating party discipline and corruption.
