Filling of vacant seats begins in graft-riddled Shanxi province

Sixteen government officials have been appointed in coal-rich Shanxi province to fill the power vacuum left by the campaign to root out corruption.

The nationwide anti-graft effort that began in late 2012 snared a long list of officials in charge of distributing coal resources in Shanxi. Many of the dozens of positions that had been held by top officials who were brought down in the campaign remain vacant.

Seven province-level officials were investigated, along with 45 city-level officials last year.