800 Chinese officials punished for negligence

Beijing, April 9 (IANS) Over 800 government officials and party workers of the Communist Party of China have been punished for negligence of duty, the government said Monday.

A total of 819 officials were punished in 33 "particularly serious" production safety cases over the past five years, Xinhua reported citing the ministry of supervision.

As many as 531 officials were prosecuted, the ministry said.

The investigation focused on officials' misconduct that directly resulted in production safety incidents. It also dealt with corruptive behaviour.

One case involved the cover-up of an explosion in a mine in Hebei province. A probe found a number of officials had illegally invested in the mine.