BEIJING -- Discipline inspection and supervisory agencies across China have handed down punishments to 21 officials at the provincial or ministerial level in the first half of this year, the country's top anti-graft body announced Tuesday.

A total of 273,000 people received punishment over the period, including 227,000 who faced Party disciplinary punishment, according to a statement released by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China and the National Supervisory Commission.

In the first six months of the year, discipline inspection and supervisory authorities nationwide received over 1.75 million complaints and tip-offs, dealt with 739,000 pieces of evidence with violation implications, and launched investigations into 322,000 cases, the statement said.