BEIJING (REUTERS) - China's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that two more former senior officers were being investigated for corruption, as part of a sweeping campaign against graft which has already felled dozens of senior people.

In a brief statement, the ministry said that Mr Kou Tie, former commander of the Heilongjiang military region in northern China, had been put under investigation last November for suspected"serious discipline violations".

He was handed over to military prosecutors last month.

The other officer was named as Mr Liu Zhanqi, a former communications division commander for the paramilitary People's Armed Police, also suspected of "serious discipline violations", common wording for corruption. He was handed to military prosecutors last month as well.

The ministry gave no further details. Neither case had been reported before.

Weeding out graft in the military is a top goal of President Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission, which controls China's 2.3 million-strong armed forces.

Serving and retired Chinese military officers have said military graft is so pervasive it could undermine China's ability to wage war, and dozens of senior officers have been taken down.

The anti-graft drive in the military comes as Mr Xi steps up efforts to modernise forces that are projecting power across the disputed waters of the East and South China Seas, though China has not fought a war in decades.