By July 14, 35 officials at the ministerial level or above had been removed from their posts on charges of corruption, with the senior-most being Xu Caihou, former vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission.

Xu's high-profile case saw commentators from the traditional as well as social and new media expressing their views on corrupt officials and the central leadership's campaign against corruption. Many media outlets said the fact that the move against such a high-profile official came on the 93rd anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China reflects the top leadership's determination to root out corruption from society.

"Rarely since the founding of the republic have so many officials at so high levels been probed for corruption," said an article on xinhuanet.com. "Corruption is something that can threaten the Party's rule and it is time to curb the trend."