The officials were held responsible for the shoddy homes built for local villagers who were made homeless by the quake.

Among these officials, Huang Shunfu, the county's top publicity official, had been suspended from duty and ordered to confess his wrongdoing to the Party. Huang was the highest-ranking of the eight officials.

In addition, Sang Fanrong and his son, the contractors in charge of building new houses for quake victims, had been put under criminal detention for shoddy work, Xinhua said.

Longnan had launched a one-month inspection of the quality of all reconstruction projects across the city since the media exposed the problem, Xinhua said. The use of reconstruction funds will be audited strictly.

Among the accusations, Wenxian is suspected of misusing 5 million yuan, designated for victims' housing projects, to finance a street light project.

Longnan rejected the accusation, saying the project was financed by proceeds from the transfer of a local gold mine's ownership, reported the China News Service, quoting an unidentified official of the city.