The Supreme People's Court has conclud- ed 138,000 cases that involved corruption in the past five years, and 143,000 people have been sentenced to prison, according to the report the SPC president delivered to the ongoing National People's Congress session on Sunday.

Over the same period, the total number of corruption cases the Supreme People's Procuratorate investigated was more than 160,000, involving more than 210,000 people, according to the SPP's report to the NPC. Of the 13,173 government officials above county magistrate level that were investigated, 30 were provincial governor level and 950 bureau chief level.

Such figures should counter any impression people might have had that the government has been merely paying lip service to the fight against corruption. They should act as a shot in the arm, boosting public confidence in the effectiveness of the crackdown on corruption.