Two former top officials with the Ministry of Civil Affairs have received disciplinary punishments including demotion and early retirement for failing to supervise subordinates, China's top graft watchdog said on Wednesday.

Li Liguo, former minister of civil affairs, and vice-minister Dou Yupei were held accountable for poor governance and negligence, and they also were responsible for large-scale corruption that occurred in the ministry, said a statement from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.

The punishment of Li and Dou can be regarded as a landmark event that sends a signal that the central leadership will rule the Party more strictly regarding accountability, said Zhuang Deshui, deputy director of the clean government research center at Peking University.

"Li and Dou are the two most senior officials who have been punished for negligence after the CPC enacted an intra-Party accountability regulation last July," he said.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection conducted an inspection of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in February last year. It discovered that many departments abused public power to seek individual benefits, and it also found widespread problems in the management of welfare lotteries.

Based on intra-Party regulations on accountability and disciplinary penalties, Li received punishment including being placed on probation in the Party for two years and demotion, according to the commission statement.

Dou received a serious intra-Party warning and will retire early, it said. Neither of them any longer holds the position of delegate to the Party's 18th National Congress, the statement said.

"Such punishments mean the termination of the political career for the two officials," Zhuang said.

Li was removed from the minister post on Nov 7 at the age of 63. The standard retirement age for a minister in China is 65. Dou was removed on Nov 15. The commission announced probes of Li and Dou in early January.

The commission also announced on Wednesday that Bao Xuequan, former director of the ministry's welfare lottery center, and Wang Yunge, its former deputy director, are being officially probed for corruption.

Zhuang spoke highly of the enforcement of the Party's accountability regulation, saying the result reflects the central leadership's strong determination to strictly rule the Party.

According to the regulation, 17,000 Party members received punishments nationwide last year, according to the discipline commission.