Beijing, Aug 28 (IANS): The central committee of the Communist Party of China has announced measures to punish anyone spreading political rumours and crack down on negligent officials.

The measures were part of the revised regulations on CPC disciplinary actions adopted on Sunday and were aimed at facilitating self-governance with "iron discipline" and to "counter new forms of discipline violations", Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.

The committee statement said they would persecute those spreading "political rumours" that endanger "the unity and solidarity of the Party".

The measures included penalizing officials who fail to implement "innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, thus causing significant losses due to dereliction of duty".

The regulations would also be used to discipline party members, who use religion as a divisive tool, and those who distort the history of the country.

The CPC was also expected to revise 142 clauses to punish misconduct related to bureaucratic formalities, as well disciplinary violations in different areas such as pollution control, poverty alleviation and fighting criminal gangs.

In the most severe cases, party members may be tried, but in most cases, expulsion from the party is the harshest punishment that has been stipulated.

Since Xi Jinping took over as President of China in March 2013, thousands of Chinese officials have been investigated or sentenced for crimes related to corruption.