A total of 140,660 officials have voluntarily turned over bribes they accepted to higher authorities in the past five years, a disciplinary watchdog said in Beijing on Saturday.

The bribes, including cash, marketable securities and pay orders, were valued at a combined 676 million yuan (US$89.18 million), according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.

During the same period, 6,828 officials have been punished for taking cash, marketable securities and pay orders in violation on government anti-corruption regulations. Another 16,411 officials have been punished for gambling, sources with CCDI said.

The central government has beefed up its fight against corruption. During this period of time, 16 officials at ministerial-level or higher were punished for "serious corruption" including Chen Liangyu, former Shanghai Party Chief, Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of the State Food and Drug Administration, and Qiu Xiaohua, former head of the National Bureau of Statistics.

At the same time, more approaches were introduced to tackle the thorny problem. Besides the government investigation and people's tips, the government has encouraged people to confess wrongdoings and turn over the bribes.

CCDI issued a set of regulations targeting corruption on May 30, urging officials who have traded power for money to confess their crimes before the end of June in return for leniency.

In one month alone, 1,790 persons voluntarily reported their misdeeds, involving 77.89 million yuan, said Gan Yisheng, a CCDI spokesman.

Gan said the regulations were effective since they laid the basis for the government to investigate cases involving violation of party discipline. He added that they also provided an opportunity for those who had made mistakes to make corrections.

(Xinhua News Agency September 24, 2007)