BEIJING, May 14 -- China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Wednesday that more than 10,000 officials were investigated for corruption from January to March.

Investigative work covered corruption, dereliction of duty and other duty-related crimes in the first three months of the year.

The number of corruption cases and officials being investigated increased by 24 percent and 19.8 percent, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

The number of dereliction of duty cases and officials being investigated increased by 10.2 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively, compared to the same period in 2013, according to the SPP's data.

A total of 10,840 people in 8,222 cases were investigated for bribery or corruption, and 3,073 people were investigated in 2,245 cases of dereliction of duty, the SPP said.

The increases were due to China's enhanced fight against corruption. Chinese President Xi Jinping has said the country will fight both "flies," officials at grassroots level, and "tigers," high-ranking officials.

Among the total number of officials being investigated for corruption from January to March, 57 were at prefectural level, the SPP said.

Major cases investigated included Tong Mingqian, a senior political advisor in the central province of Hunan, Chen Baihuai, a vice ministerial-level official in Hubei Province, and a large-scale election fraud in Hengyang City of Hunan Province.

Xu Jinhui, director of the SPP's anti-bribery and corruption department, said procuratorates have strengthened their efforts in investigating cases, and efficiency was also improved.

Xu said the SPP will further strengthen its efforts in the anti-corruption drive, focusing on bribe taking, pursuing stolen money and escaped suspects.

In addition, the supreme procuratorate will also strengthen law enforcement standards, strictly implementing audio and video recording during interrogations, Xu said.

In cases involving dereliction of duty, the SPP will focus on food safety, environmental protection, production safety as well as other areas.