BEIJING - More than 160,000 people were punished in China for disciplinary violations in 2012, according to official figures released Wednesday.

Disciplinary inspection organs last year launched investigations into more than 155,000 such cases based on tip-offs from the public, of which more than 153,000 have been concluded. As a result a total of 160,718 people were punished.

The investigations have led to the successful recovery of 7.83 billion yuan (around 1.24 billion US dollars) in economic losses for the country.