A total of 146,517 officials across China were punished for disciplinary violations in 2010, an official with the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said Thursday.

Gan Yisheng, deputy secretary of the CCDI, said discipline inspection bodies received nearly 1.43 million petitions and tips in 2010 and recovered 8.97 billion yuan (1.35 billion U.S. dollars) in economic losses for the state.

A total of 5,098 leaders at the county level or above have been punished and 804 officials were referred for prosecution, he said.

After investigations, authorities have uncovered disciplinary violations in the sectors of agriculture, medical services and education, Gan said.

Also, more than 200 people were punished for their involvement in cases of problematic milk powder, he noted.

As of Dec. 2010, discipline inspection bodies had received 11,332 petitions and tips on the misuse of quake-relief funds and materials and punished 689 people, he said.

A focus was also placed on violations in key areas such as construction and "small coffers."

"Small coffer" refers to funds, securities and assets that failed to be listed into the account books of CPC and government organizations in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.

As of Dec. 10, 2010, 25,738 "small coffers," valued at 12.7 billion yuan, had been uncovered since a campaign was launched in June, 2009, he said.

A number of high-ranking CPC officials, including Kang Rixin, a former head of Chinese nuclear giant China National Nuclear Corporation, and Huang Yao, former chairman of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), have been referred for prosecution, he said.

Authorities are also investigating other senior CPC officials for disciplinary violations, including Song Chenguang, vice chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, and Liu Zhuozhi, former vice chairman of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to Gan.