AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Beijing

Updated at 12.42pm:
More than 8,000 ranking Chinese officials have been forced to quit their part-time jobs in the business world as the country continues it struggle against graft, state media said on Wednesday.

The officials have left their lucrative posts over concerns that their active role in commerce would lead them to interfere in the market and discriminate against rival companies, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Another argument often put forward is that officials do not have time to tend to their responsibilities if they also have a business to look after.

The change is the result of a document published by the government early in the year demanding that more be done to separate officialdom from business.

Previous campaigns have seen the armed forces, the paramilitary police and other government agencies cut their ties to business.