In 2011, 4,843 Party and government officials above the county or division level were punished across the country for their involvement in corruption, according to an anti-corruption report issued by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Wednesday.

Among those punished officials, 777 were handed over to judicial organs.

By handling those officials, some 8.44 billion yuan ($1.35 billion) in economic losses had been recouped. The report also noted that the country is in a critical period in its crackdown on corruption.

There were 1.34 million reports of alleged corruption in 2011, launching 137,000 official investigations.

The Ministry of Supervision has set up an online reporting platform, through which the public submitted over 50,000 cases in 2011.

Global Times