The city's graft reporting center had helped uncover more than 2,000 corruption cases and recover losses of nearly 3 billion yuan (US$360 million) since it was founded 16 years ago, the Shenzhen People's Procuratorate announced Sunday.

The center was founded in 1988 by the procuratorate to appeal for public participation in fighting corruption. It has received a total of 29,184 reports that led to the solving of 2,110 cases, some in just a few hours.

An informant surnamed Tan went to the center on the morning of June 4, 1999, and reported a police officer surnamed Xu, who had asked for a bribe of 180,000 yuan. One hour later, the investigation began and the officer confessed in the evening. He was later sentenced 13 years' imprisonment.

The center's increasing strength also frightened many corrupt officials, forcing them to confess. In 1999, a suspect surnamed Zhu, who had allegedly embezzled 300,000 yuan in southwestern Guizhou Province, turned himself in to the center after four years of living a fugitive life.

According to the latest statistics, a total of 375 suspects have given themselves up to the center. Of these, 253 were suspected of graft and bribery.

(Shenzhen Daily June 22, 2004)