China files 800,000 corruption cases in first nine months of 2026

China's disciplinary inspection and supervision authorities filed 800,000 cases and punished 680,000 people in the first nine months of 2026, the country's top anti-corruption watchdogs said Tuesday.

Photo via China Daily

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China and the National Commission of Supervision said those investigated included 73 officials at the provincial or ministerial level or above, 4,203 at the department or bureau level, 34,000 at the county or division level and 114,000 at the township or section level.

Investigations were also launched into 79,000 current or former village-level Party chiefs and village committee directors, according to the latest figures.

During the period, authorities received nearly 3.51 million petitions and reports, including 847,000 involving allegations of misconduct, and handled nearly 2.15 million leads concerning suspected violations.

Of the 680,000 people punished, 505,000 received Party disciplinary sanctions and 222,000 received administrative sanctions.

Those punished included 105 officials at the provincial or ministerial level or above, 3,680 at the department or bureau level, 28,000 at the county or division level and 92,000 at the township or section level.

Another 89,000 were ordinary officials, while 467,000 were personnel from rural areas, enterprises and other sectors.

The authorities also applied the Party's "four forms" of discipline enforcement in 1.385 million instances.

The first form, involving criticism, education and early warnings, accounted for 50.2 percent of the total. The second, covering minor Party disciplinary penalties and organizational adjustments, made up 41 percent. The third, involving severe Party penalties and major position adjustments, accounted for 4.7 percent, while the fourth, concerning serious disciplinary violations involving suspected crimes and criminal accountability, represented 4.1 percent.

As part of efforts to investigate both bribe-taking and bribe-giving, authorities opened investigations into 29,000 people suspected of offering bribes, with 3,020 referred to procuratorial authorities for prosecution review.