Authorities in Jiangning district, Nanjing, have placed about 40 government officials under investigation for allegedly accepting gifts worth 145,000 yuan (US$21,000) from a local toy company during the last Spring Festival, a government official said Monday.

A gift list, which includes the names of the accused officials, was discovered by accident last week when suppliers of the now defunct Jiashide Toy Products stormed the firm's Nanjing office to demand more than 400,000 yuan the company owed them, the Nanjing-based newspaper Modern Express reported on Sunday.

"We have begun investigating all the officials on the list. We will also send our officials to the company to conduct an inquiry," an official with the discipline inspection commission of the Party's Jiangning committee said.

The official, surnamed Jing, declined to name the accused officials.

"We cannot reveal the names of the officials until we complete our investigations," he told China Daily.

On Saturday, suppliers from across the country gathered at the toy factory, which stopped production in October, hoping that the firm would clear their debts. On finding no one at the office, they started looking for valuable items in the drawers and cupboards that could compensate them.

In a drawer they found the list, the newspaper report said.

The list also had the names and posts of the government officials.

The gifts, which included shopping cards, cash and high-end designer clothes, were selected according to the levels of the officials, it said.

(China Daily December 30, 2008)