BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Former military leader Xu Caihou is the latest among more than 30 heavyweight civilian and military officials downed in the country's fierce anti-corruption campaign.

Xu, former vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) for bribery on Monday and may face prosecution as his case has been forwarded by the discipline agency to prosecutors.

Two weeks ago, authorities announced their investigation into Su Rong, then vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, who had served as Party chief of several provinces before. He is the most senior civilian official to be placed under investigation since the current CPC leadership took office in November 2012.

According to the website of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), around 30 officials of provincial and ministerial level or higher have been investigated for corruption since November 2012.

Among them were two members of the 205-strong CPC Central Committee and two alternate members.

Several were senior officials of central government departments, such as Jiang Jiemin, head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and Li Dongsheng, vice minister of public security.

There was one from state-owned enterprises (SOEs) -- Song Lin, former chairman of China Resources.

The majority of them were senior provincial officials and chief officials of provincial capitals such as Li Chuncheng, deputy party chief of southwest China's Sichuan Province, and Ji Jianye, mayor of Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.

Since February, at least two provincial or ministerial officials have been investigated for corruption every month.

Also on Monday, the CPC Central Committee decided to revoke the membership of Wang Yongchun, former vice general manager of the China National Petroleum Corporation. Although not a ministerial-level official, Wang was an alternate member of the CPC Central Committee.

In China's bureaucratic system, officials of this level and above are important decision makers about central and local affairs. They are no doubt "tigers," a popular metaphor for senior corrupt officials.

Discipline inspectors have also tightened their grasp on low-ranking corrupt officials, dubbed "flies."

Based on the statements on the CCDI website, discipline inspection agencies across the country have investigated and punished more than 480 officials, with their full names published.

These officials were from 31 provincial divisions nationwide and their backgrounds range from party and government departments, SOEs to public institutions such as universities and hospitals.

Although there was a relatively small number of SOE executives under investigation, they came from almost all sectors dominated by state capital, from oil, telecom, power supply, steel to shipping and banking.

Also, the anti-corruption drive is gearing up in the military. Prior to Xu, Gu Junshan, deputy head of the General Logistics Department of the People's Liberation Army, was charged with embezzlement, bribery, misuse of state funds and abuse of power in March.

Huang Weiting, a researcher with "Seeking Truth," the official magazine of the CPC Central Committee, attributed the progress to the strategy of fighting both "tigers" and "flies."

Catching senior corrupt officials displays determination since these cases are usually tough nuts to crack, Huang said.

But punishing corrupt minor officials affects how ordinary people feel about the Party because, if a low-level official is corrupt, ordinary people see it first hand and may be hurt worse, he added.

"In many cases, tigers and flies are symbiotic. If a senior official is corrupted, it would be hard for his inferiors to keep clean. If there was a large group of low-level corrupt officials, it would not be surprising to find a big boss behind them," he said. "We can not take them down if we do not fight them both."

The figures also indicate the speeding-up of anti-corruption actions. In the first half of this year, more than 330 officials were investigated or punished, double the figure of the whole of 2013.

At a CPC disciplinary watchdog meeting in early 2013, President Xi Jinping vowed to make no exception when it comes to Party discipline and law.

"Cases will be investigated completely and no leniency will be meted out no matter who is involved," he said.

Prof. Xin Ming, with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, told Xinhua that the actions have proven the leadership meant their words.

The CPC is going to celebrate its 93th anniversary on Tuesday.

When Xi was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee on Nov. 15 in 2012, he told the press that the Party faces many severe challenges and pressing problems, including corruption.

"We must make every effort to solve these problems. The whole Party must stay on full alert," he said.

One and half years later, at a group study of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau on Monday, Xi continued warning the whole Party of its weaknesses and challenges while stressing strict management.

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