To date, a total of 12 female officials in key posts were announced as being under investigation for duty-related crimes by the central and provincial anti-graft watchdogs in 2014. Some of them are involved in trading sex for power, the Beijing News reported on Monday.

A recent case is the investigation of Jin Qiufen, director of the Yangzhou City Environmental Protection Bureau in East China's Jiangsu province, which was announced on June 9.

China cracks down on graft

Among the 12 investigated, six hold major posts at the municipal level, while four are senior officials of key departments at the municipal level. They range in age from 41, the youngest, to older than 60-year-old, on whom the investigation was practiced after the retirement.

At present, four have been proceeded to judicial authorities on charges of corruption and bribery, and eight are still under investigation.

The number of female officials who're involved in duty-related crimes are on a rise in the recent five years, the newspaper quoted officials from the Department for Prevention of Duty-related Crimes at the Supreme Procuratorate as saying.

Thirty-three percent more were caught from January to November 2013 than all of 2009. Most of them were found offering or accepting bribes.

Researchers like Li Chengyan from Peking University told the newspaper that they believe the rise is a result of gender balance in senior governmental posts, stronger anti-corruption forces, and the overall background increase in corruption cases.

"Corruption has nothing to do with age and gender," Li said. "It has to do with loopholes of legal supervision on power, and how power should be restrained accordingly."

According to the researchers, female officials show slight differences in committing duty-related crimes compared to their male counterparts.

They are more apt to conspire with male partners, as well as trade power for sex.

They tend to commit crimes for sake of their family members or for their ex-marital lovers, and also to satisfy their swelling personal desire for living the high life.

In Beijing alone, 12 female officials were caught for high-end beauty-salon related corruption in 2012.

Experts call for more psychological intervention or assistance for female officials, especially when they show sudden changes in the way they get along with their husbands, spend money, or make friends, to prevent further corruption.