China says 1.34 million officials punished for graft

China's anti-graft authority has said that roughly 1.34 million lower-ranking officials have been punished since 2013.

Those punished for graft include 648,000 village-level officials and most crimes were related to cases of small-scale corruption, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a report published on its website on Sunday.

Much of the country's anti-graft drive has targeted lower-ranking officials at village- and county-level, as the country aims to eradicate poverty by 2020.

Official data showed that some 12.4 million people in China were lifted above the poverty line in 2016, which the government defines as those with an annual income of less than 2,300 yuan (360 US dollars) in 2010 levels.

There are still 43.35 million people living below this poverty line, according to official data.

Reviewing China's anti-corruption campaign in the past five years, the report identified 155,000 county-level party branches that have set up anti-corruption enforcement mechanisms as of this August, accounting for 94.8 percent of total bureaus.

The report also said authorities found 33 incidents of malfeasance in poverty relief funds at county- and village-levels.

About 22,000 party officials have been punished for corruption and abuse of power in poverty alleviation projects.