BEIJING - Bribery has infested the grassroots elections of the Party's branches and the villagers' self-governing bodies in South China's Hainan province, and the price to buy a vote has risen to a record price, an investigation has found.

Residents in some villages of the Xiuying district in Haikou city, the provincial capital, said candidates to the villages' Party branch and the villagers' self-governing committee now have to pay as much as 1,200 yuan ($177) to each voter in exchange for their support at the ballot box, the Procuratorial Daily reported, citing an investigation conducted by the provincial prosecutors.

The price of a bribed vote has skyrocketed, especially compared to the tiny sum of 10 to 15 yuan in the past, the report said.