Eight Communist Party of China (CPC) officials have been punished, some with long jail terms, for buying or selling government jobs, said an official at a CPC news conference yesterday.

The news was revealed at a joint press conference by CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the Organization Department of CPC Central Committee.

The official confirmed that Cao Yongbao, former deputy secretary of Liangshan Prefectural Committee of the CPC in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, has been removed from his post, expelled from the Party and sentenced to 13 years in jail.

He had taken advantage of his posts to help other officials get promotions and job transfers from 1994 to 2004. He took bribes worth more than 1.5 million yuan (US$180,000). He was also unable to explain the source of his other assets worth of 1.074 million yuan (US$120,000) and US$11,800.

In another case, Zhang Gaiping, the former Party chief of Shangzhou District in Shaanxi Province, was said to have accepted bribes of 1.069 million (US$131,800) to help others seek promotion or redeployment.

Zhang was also accused of seeking profits for her relatives by intruding in construction projects, said Gan Yisheng, secretary general of CCDI.

Zhang has been stripped of her position and Party membership, said Gan, adding that "the case has been transferred to legal departments."

Wang Fuyuan, Party committee member in Shiwan Township in Hepu County, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, had his Party membership removed for giving 100-300 yuan (US$12-36) each to voters during a reshuffling election in April.

The other officials, from Hunan, Anhui, Henan and Guangdong provinces, were punished for taking bribes, interfering in elections and organizing premature promotions of cadres.

"Disciplinary supervision and inspection is to be enhanced during the upcoming reshuffles of Party committees at all levels," said Liu Xirong, vice-secretary of the CDDI

According to the CPC's constitution, Party committees from provincial to township level will be reshuffled across this country in the next year.

Source: China Daily