Despite China's aggressive campaign to weed out corruption, its image as a deeply corrupt country is only rising, reports from a leading watchdog group said.

China's relentless anti-corruption campaign has netted thousands of government officials who have been punished and are now rotting in jail.

Like Us on Facebook

According to the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index published Wednesday, global perception of the level of corruption in China has risen sharply compared to its image last year.

Transparency International, a non-profit organization based in Berlin which published the report, said that China's image is damaged among business people and experts from around the world who perceived its anti-corruption efforts as "partial, opaque, and politically motivated."

People around the world doubt the efficacy of its anti-corruption drive because of the lack of transparency and accountability of the government officials, the report said.

Thomas Coombes, spokesman for Transparency International, said that the anti-corruption campaign of China is just the tip of the iceberg and is not even being done in a transparent manner.

"The index ranked China 104th among 175 countries, a drop of 20 places from last year, and the single largest drop in terms of ranking," part of the report said.

Coombes said the deterioration of  perception on China's corruption may also be because the campaign has exposed the deeply rooted corruption menace and the major structural problems in how corruption is being fought.

President Xi Jinping had declared a war on corruption when he assumed the Presidency two years ago. The campaign has gone international as he sought the extradition of several government officials who have taken refuge in other countries.

Coombes said that in order for China's corruption efforts to be successful, it needs "permanence and structural change."

The spokesman said that what China should work on to have an effective anti-corruption efforts are stronger laws on bribery, protection laws for whistleblowers, access to information, open budgets and asset declarations.

TagsTransparency International, Corruption Perception Index