"The criteria for granting probation to corrupt officials is rather vague," said Tian Hongjie, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law. "It (probation) is mainly related to how much a person confesses to the crime, returns the ill-gotten gains or provides useful information," he said. "So this gives the judges a lot of freedom in sentencing."

    "As most defendants charged with corruption were public servants in positions of power, it is likely they will use their powerful connections to pressure judges. So, sometimes it's really hard for the judiciary to apply the principle of equality of justice before the law," said Wang Yuefei, vice-president of the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court in North China's Hebei Province.

    The current system leaves plenty of room for this kind of maneuvering, said Shao Daosheng, a researcher with the Department of Sociology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). "The greater challenge for China lies in finding a deeper, structural cure. It's hard to clean up corruption when the instruments you're relying on are themselves flawed," he says.

    "We must not let some corrupt officials off while punishing others," wrote legal scholar Yan Lieshan in an article published in China Economic Times. "It would appear that crooked officials who have the connections and money to buy their way out get spared, while others who don't, get punished. This will harm the public's trust in justice."

    A veteran local prosecutor, Zheng Xinjian, says prosecutors are deeply disappointed with the increase in lighter penalties and in the cases where the convicted are exempt from punishment.

    "Prosecutors around the country have made anti-corruption a priority despite great risks and pressure. You must know that almost every year prosecutors lose their lives or are injured," said Zheng suggesting that some corrupt officials have paid others to kill or intimidate prosecutors.

    Media reports show that ordinary people are deeply resentful of officials who spend public money on extravagant lifestyles and abuse their power by helping those who bribe them.

    An online survey conducted by Xinhuanet.com in 2005 asked people what really bugged them. Nearly a quarter of the 200,000 respondents said putting an end to corruption was their main concern.

    While the public feels the anti-corruption campaign is being hindered by excessive leniency, the government finds itself being criticized abroad for being too tough.

    With China accounting for more than 80 percent of the world's death sentences, an international lobby has urged China to abolish capital punishment for non-violent, white-collar economic crimes.

    Sentencing embezzlers to death has also made it difficult to seek the extradition of suspects who have fled the country. In order to persuade Western countries to hand over the accused, China must pledge not to execute them. As a result, the number of economic criminals who have found safe havens abroad has risen sharply.

    According to figures from the Ministry of Public Security, more than 500 people accused of embezzlement fled the country in 2005 alone.