Xinhua reports that over 160,000 “phantom staff”—former government employees who continue to draw a government paycheck without continuing to work in an official capacity—have been removed from the payroll since the Xi administration’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign began last June:
A total of 162,629 phantom staff on the government payroll have been removed since a national campaign targeting corruption and bureaucracy was launched last year.
Hebei Province saw the largest number of such officials, with 55,793 found to be getting paid even though they never worked, the Communist Party of China flagship newspaper People’s Daily reported on Monday.
Sichuan Province removed 28,466 such ghost staff and another 15,022 were exposed in Henan.
No such official employees have been uncovered in Shanghai and Tibet, said the report, adding 531 redundant people were found in Beijing and 327 of them have been removed. [Source]
