BEIJING - NEARLY 5,000 higher-level Chinese government officials were punished for corruption over the past year, state media reported on Friday.

The officials - all above the county-head level - were involved in corruption, bribery, acting against the public interest and other violations of discipline or the law said Gan Yisheng, deputy head of the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

In the worst cases, a total of 801 officials were legally prosecuted for crimes, he said. He vowed to step up anti-graft efforts and 'win trust from the people with actual results.'

Mr Gan said government inspection departments investigated 144,000 cases that led to penalties for 146,000 lower-ranking government officials. Losses of 6 billion yuan (S$1.30 million) were recovered through the anti-corruption efforts. -- AP