China punishes 13,656 officials in April for violations of conduct rules

BEIJING, May 27 (Xinhua) -- China's disciplinary authorities handed punishments to 13,656 officials in April for violations of the eight-point code on improving Party and government conduct, the country's top anti-graft body announced on its website on Monday.

The officials were involved in a total of 9,755 cases, resulting in 8,916 individuals receiving Party disciplinary or administrative penalties, according to a monthly statement issued by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision.

The statement said that among the officials who were handed punishments, 6,647 had engaged in bureaucratism or pointless formalities, and 7,009 had indulged in hedonism or extravagance.

The CPC released its eight-point rules late in 2012 to combat undesirable work practices.