China fired more than 850 government officials in the province of Guangdong on Saturday as part of the country's nationwide probe against corrupt officials.

China investigated the corruption activities of the first half of 2014 and discovered that more than 25,000 people were involved, the state media said Friday.

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Guangdong's provincial government were able to identify 2,190 "naked officials," but only 866 of them were removed from their positions. The majority of the caught officials had spouses and children living abroad.

State media also confirmed that the "naked officials" will no longer be considered for any promotion since they are seen as flight risks who could engage in overseas corruption activities.

Xinhua news agency reported the officials pose a serious threat to Guangdong, which borders near Hong Kong. The province reported high statistics of emigration in their communities, with the accounted emigrants spread across Southeast Asia, Australia, North America and Europe.

Most of Guangdong's officials allegedly partook in the Hong Kong investment scheme, receiving more than US$1 million each. The scheme includes property buying in a couple of African nations because the said scheme is not open to residents of mainland China.

China's corruption investigators said they are tracking officials who received more than 50,000 yuan, or US$8,070, in bribes.

China's President Xi Jinping launched the crackdown on corruption in 2013, partly to stem the growing public disdain toward the ruling Communist party. The anti-graft campaign was mandated to pursue officials who waste the public's money for personal use.

Critics, however, see the anti-corruption campaign as Xi's way to boot out his political opponents and replace them with his trusted men.  

All in all, China currently holds 320 suspects of corruption who earlier fled the country but have been "seized and brought back to China," according to state media.

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