China's fight against corruption is gaining ground, as evidenced by the growing number of Chinese public officials who reportedly have been implicated in the embezzlement of poverty relief funds.

This as the Central government is carrying out a sweeping crackdown on duty crimes across the mainland, reported China Daily.

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According to Wang Songmiao, spokesperson of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), prosecutors have in the first five months of the year investigated a total of 658 officials who have been tasked to handle the Chinese government's poverty alleviation program.

This figure shows a year on year increase of 53.7 percent in the number of anti-corruption cases being handled by the anti-graft body. 

Wang also disclosed that 4,775 officials who have also been involved in agriculture rural area-related projects were investigated for alleged duty crimes in the first five months, with 2,640 of them involved in abuse of finances.

Investigations conducted by the SPP discovered that local-level officials had a propensity for being involved in cases of bribery, embezzlement, speculation, and dereliction of duty.

Through its aggressive fight against corruption, China hopes to lift 70 million poor people, particularly those in the nation's rural areas, out of poverty and build "a moderately prosperous society" by 2020.

President Xi Jinping administration aims to achieve this by increasing the national government's funding for relocation, ecological protection, electric power infrastructure, and renovation programs in rural areas.

Relative to this, Wang disclosed that the SPP will tighten supervision and set up an information sharing system to ensure all funds are used effectively and transparently.

He added that a massive education campaign will also be launched for local officials in order to increase their awareness of legal issues.

China's fight against corruption kicked off this year via the Xi government's five-year campaign to eradicate corruption in the bureaucracy, particularly targeting public officials who are engaged in poverty relief work. 

Tagschina, China corruption, China Fight Against Corruption