Corruption cases have been on the increase in the past eight years despite stepped-up efforts to combat it, a research paper said.

More senior officials have been involved with bribes getting bigger.

Wang Rongli, a 42-year-old lawyer in this southern city, and the author of the research paper, conducted a study based on 500 corruption cases published in the media since 2003.

He found that almost 86 percent of the cases were discovered after 2000, and the average bribe or property value involved per offender was more than 10 million yuan (US$1.47 million).

Wang said: "The guilty in about half of these corruption cases received life imprisonment, or death."

He said more corruption cases are found in more developed coastal areas that in backward inland cities.

More than 60 percent of the cases occurred in the fields of engineering, fund management, transport, land and law enforcement.

"I was shocked by many of my findings. I hope the administrations can devise more efficient methods to minimize the occurrence of corruption," Wang told China Daily yesterday.

Transport led the list in the number of corrupt officials, 17. Most held senior positions in 13 provinces and municipalities.

Law enforcement was next on the list. It included officials working for the public security bureaus, courts, procuratorates, prisons, and customs.

"There is no sign that China's corruption decreases although the central government has frequently launched campaigns to crack down on it."

"I think the reason is that supervision is from top rather that from the bottom," Wang said.

(China Daily December 12, 2008)