Discipline inspectors and law enforcement agencies dealt with 298 commercial corruption cases involving 107 million yuan (about US$13.7 million) in Beijing in 2006, authorities said on Tuesday.

Forty-three government officials above the county level were involved in the cases, according to the group.

Bribe takers in local hospitals voluntarily turned in bribes worth more than 11 million yuan by the end of last January.

Commercial bribery usually refers to bribes from companies and often involves a firm paying money to government officials for special favors.

Commercial bribery led to the fall of several high-ranking officials in the capital since the beginning of last year, including Liu Zhihua, former vice mayor of Beijing.

In the latest case, Zhou Liangluo, former head of Haidian District in Beijing, was detained on April 6 on suspicion of involvement in illegal land transactions in the northern part of the district, home to China's top universities and high-tech companies.
China has dealt with 21,889 cases of commercial bribery involving 5.276 billion yuan (US$676 million) since it started an anti-corruption campaign in 2005, according to official statistic.

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2007)