A reporter from Legal Daily did an analysis of corruption cases that occurred during 2011, which was on December 28. A prominent feature of the analysis was the high level of the officials involved in corruption. Officials at the ministerial and provincial levels who were prosecuted and sentenced during 2011 included: Zhang Jingli, the Deputy Director of the Food and Drug Administration; Xu Zongheng, the Mayor of Shenzhen City (Guangdong Province); Li Tangtang, the Vice Chairman of the NingXia Hui Autonomous Region; and Zhang Chunjiang, the Vice President of China Mobile Communications Corporation. According to Professor Lin Zhe of the CCP Central Committee Party School, the main characteristics of the corruption cases since 2006 were that the level of corrupt officials was very high; the amount of money involved was astronomical; and officials were often involved in group corruption. The year 2011 involved a few new characteristics, including: 1) Corruption at state-owned enterprises was prominent; 2) The type of corruption officials were involved in became more unique, meaning the corruption became more specialized and insidious; 3) Corruption involved ant-like characteristics, meaning those at the bottom in terms of their level of power used their limited power continuously, day in and day out, to go after money; 4) “Photo-gate” type scandals involving government officials occurred frequently.
Source: Legal Daily, December 28, 2011
http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/bm/content/2011-12/28/content_3245984.htm?node=20738