Independent journalist Ji Xuguang is credited with bringing down Lei Zhengfu, a former official in a district in the southwestern city of Chongqing, in a high-profile scandal in 2012.

 

　　Ji said corrupt officials never saw grassroots journalism as a huge threat, but the development of the internet and social networking have been making a difference.

 

　　"Instead of petitioning the disciplinary authorities or writing a report for the Southern Metropolis Daily where I worked, I chose Weibo, for its transparency and speed."

 

　　Gao Bo, deputy secretary-general of China Anti-Corruption Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, has also noticed this new trend.

 

　　"Working as an official is becoming tougher and tougher. The internet helps make ordinary people's voices heard in the anticorruption campaign and makes supervision easier and more cost-effective."

 

　　Officials now face a greater level of scrutiny in the age of the microblog, and the internet is becoming an effective means to criticize abuses of power by officials. But the country's lawmakers say it will eventually come down to needing a sound judicial system to prevent and curb corruption in the long run.

 

　　Ma Huaide, vice president of the China University of Political Science and Law, says the prominence of Weibo could also highlight inadequacies in anticorruption mechanisms.

 

　　"For example, there have been loopholes in enforcing the law, and a lack of supervision of law-enforcement institutions. Meanwhile, even though we've set up a number of laws to ensure clean governance, the regulations are not complete."

 

　　Chen Jianguo, a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC, says the country's anticorruption law needs to be amended. Chen believes local anticorruption officials often have independent investigative power, but are prone to interference. He also believes the punishment rate is too low.

 

　　"I think we should extend the range of punishments, especially among government officials. Instead of giving warnings or using administrative regulations to curb their misdeeds, I suggest they be subject to the rule of law."

 

　　The latest figures from the Supreme People's Court indicate that more than 140,000 people have been punished in China over the past five years for abuse of power.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Wang Xiao.