BEIJING, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- China has been keeping high pressure on violations of the Party's eight-point frugality code on improving official conduct, and curbing practices of "formalities for formalities' sake."
In the first 10 months of this year, more than 63,800 people were punished for having violated the code, including two ministerial-level officials and 594 bureau-level officials, according to the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Supervisory Commission (NSC).
In October alone, a total of 4,601 cases of violations were investigated, and 6,358 violators were punished.
Punishments on violators of the code have been published by the country's top anti-graft body regularly since the eight-point frugality code was introduced seven years ago on Dec. 4, 2012.
On Nov. 24, the commissions reported that 4,217 people have been punished in graft cases related to local specialties, such as high-end alcohol and cigarettes and rare resources in a special crackdown. A total of 749 were transferred to judicial organs.
This year, the commissions have also joined hands with multiple ministries and administrations to tackle problems that have overlooked or encroached on people's interests.
In a campaign launched on food safety, a total of 4,977 illegal cases in the dietary supplement industry were investigated and dealt with. Some 417,000 primary and middle schools, as well as kindergartens, have their school heads dining together with the students.
The General Office of the CPC Central Committee issued a circular in March this year, stressing efforts to address the practice of "formalities for formalities' sake," and alleviate burdens on primary-level authorities.
The number or length of official documents and meetings should be drastically cut down by authorities of various levels, according to the circular.
During the year, organs of the CPC Central Committee and the central government set examples in this regard, establishing a specialized work mechanism, limiting the number and length of official documents and lowering the frequency of reports on poverty alleviation data, among others.
Provinces around the country have also issued their own measures or arrangements to streamline administrative work, such as reducing the number and length of meetings.
In September this year, the CPC Central Committee issued a revised regulation on Party accountability, explicitly listing violations of the eight-point code and practices of formalities for formalities' sake as scenarios for being held accountable.
