Corruption arrests of government officials increases in Shanghai

Arrests of government officials accused of corruption slightly increased last year in Shanghai, according to Chen Xu, chief prosecutor of the Shanghai People's Procuratorate.

Some 405 government officials, including four bureau directors and 39 department directors, went on trial in 2013, increasing by 1.3 percent year on year, Chen said today.

Major cases include bribery charges against Wang Jun, the former deputy governor of Songjiang District who was accused of receiving over 1.9 million yuan (US$311,475) in bribery, and Chen Haiju, former deputy president of China Eastern Airlines who was charged with receiving over 5 million yuan, Chen said in the annual report to local legislators.

Ten judicial officials were also punished for corruption, he added.

"Serious criminal offenses and the criminals that endangered public safety remain a focus of the procuratorate for severe crackdowns," Chen said.

Some 2,896 people with serious criminal offenses including murder, robbery and hijacking have been arrested while 430 who endangered public safety have been caught, he added.

The procuratorate approved the arrests of a total of 27,456 people last year, an increase of 1.5 percent year on year.