Disciplinary officials in State-owned enterprises will be required to focus more on anti-graft work as the number of SOE corruption cases rises, according to China's top SOE regulator.

Qiang Weidong, secretary of the disciplinary commission with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, said the supervision of SOEs will be enhanced to keep a close eye on the State-owned assets.

All SOEs have a position of disciplinary secretary, but many disciplinary chiefs have multiple duties, including some unrelated to anti-corruption work, Qiang told China Discipline Inspection Daily.

The disciplinary officials will no longer have duties unrelated to anti-graft work from May 1, and they will attach greater importance to supervision, he said.

A large number of senior SOE managers have been investigated on corruption allegations since last year.

In a recent case, an investigation of Yan Cunzhang, general manager of the international department of China National Petroleum Corp, the country's largest oil and gas producer and supplier, began on Saturday.

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn