China continues to see senior officials taken down from their positions over bribery in the first half of the year as the country advances the building of an anti-graft system so that officials dare not, cannot and will not be corrupt, the country's top anti-graft watchdogs said.

Some 171 senior officials at the departmental and bureau level or above, including six at provincial or ministerial levels, were investigated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission for suspected corruption in the first six months of the year.

The past six months also saw 145 officials at the departmental and bureau level or above, including nine at the provincial or ministerial level, disciplined, including being removed from office for corruption, according to a release by the discipline watchdogs.

Statistics show that about 38.6 percent of the senior officials investigated in the first half year were the chief leaders in their workplaces, and the proportion of such leaders among the punished officials was 46.9 percent.

During a plenary session of the CCDI in January, Zhao Leji, the top anti-graft official, stressed cracking down on corruption related to organized crime and on corrupt officials shielding criminal gangs.

He also called for strengthening coordination with judicial authorities to investigate officials acting as "umbrellas" for gangs.

As the central government continued its campaign against organized crime, many officials were investigated for misconduct and even acting as "protective umbrellas" for criminal gangs, or providing shelter for them, according to the watchdogs.

Statistics show that of the 145 senior officials disciplined in the past six months, 23 had violated Party discipline by shielding criminal gangs.

In a typical case released by the watchdogs, Ren Yongfei, former president of Shanghai Yangpu District People's Court, accepted bribes from a mafia-style organization and in return illegally interfered in a relevant case.

"He was blinded by lust for gain and had in essence become the 'umbrella' of the criminal gang," the watchdogs said in a statement in May when Ren was removed from office.

"As a leader in the judicial organs in Shanghai and a Party member, Ren abandoned the principles of Party spirit. He connived in organized crimes, causing great damage to the judicial environment and great damage to the Party's cause and image," it said.

In the past six months, in the financial and energy sectors-which are easily prone to corruption-25 officials at the departmental level or above have been investigated, according to the release of the watchdogs.

Between January and May, some 70,500 Party members were disciplined for violating the Party's eight-point frugality code that requires officials to practice frugality and clean up undesirable work styles, including bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance, according to the release.