BEIJING - China's anti-graft agency punished 589,000 people in first nine months of the year for discipline violations, including accepting or offering bribery.
There were 53 ministerial-level, or equivalent, officials among those punished, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said a statement on its website Saturday.
A total of 2,972 cases were transferred to the prosecutor's office for further investigation, according to the commission.
China's latest sweeping anti-corruption campaign has implicated a record number of senior officials for two straight years, with a focus on the finance industry.
The authorities have labelled some bankers as "hedonistic" and have created a new financial corruption work committee, indicating a push for more permanent oversight of the sector.
