BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's top disciplinary and supervisory body on Wednesday issued rules regarding investigations into officials' accountability in workplace accidents classified as "particularly serious."

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Supervisory Commission (NSC) released a pilot regulation online, saying relevant work must be carried out under the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee.

When conducting such accountability probes, the CCDI and NSC must report to the CPC Central Committee in a timely manner, and major and important issues must get approval from the CPC Central Committee, the document reads.

The CCDI and NSC is responsible for investigations into disciplinary or duty-related violations of the CPC committees, CPC members or government officials behind the accidents, handing out penalties according to Party and government codes of conduct, and transferring the cases to procuratorates, if necessary, for criminal investigation, according to the 44-article regulation.

The regulation also set procedural rules for the work.

The CCDI and NSC, together with the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and the emergency management ministry, released a separate document stipulating the need for strengthened coordination and collaboration during the investigations.

"Particularly serious production accidents" refer to those that lead to the deaths of over 30 people, leave over 100 seriously injured, or result in direct economic losses of more than 100 million yuan (around 15.48 million U.S. dollars), according to a 2007 regulation on production safety.