China probes over one million corruption cases in record 2025 crackdown |
China’s anti-corruption drive reached an unprecedented scale in 2025, underscoring Beijing’s determination to tighten discipline across the Communist Party, government institutions, state-owned enterprises, and the broader public sector. According to official disclosures by China’s top watchdogs, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Supervisory Commission (NSC), Chinese authorities imposed disciplinary measures on approximately 983,000 individuals in more than one million corruption-related cases over the course of the year. The figures represent a record high since the establishment of the current supervisory framework and signal both the breadth and intensity of the campaign.
In a statement released on January 17, the CCDI and NSC detailed the scope of their enforcement actions, highlighting that corruption probes extended from grassroots officials to the highest levels of power. Among those punished were 69 officials at the provincial and ministerial levels or above, a category that includes senior party cadres, top government administrators, and executives of major state-owned enterprises. In addition, authorities formally investigated 115 senior officials and more than 5,000 bureau-level officials, illustrating that the campaign was not limited to symbolic cases but penetrated deeply into the administrative hierarchy.
The numbers also reveal a strong focus on bribery-related offenses. Investigators examined roughly 33,000 individuals for bribery during the year, while 4,306 people were referred for criminal prosecution. These figures suggest a dual-track approach in China’s........