A top Chinese banker has confessed to taking more than 200 million yuan ($42 million) in cash bribes and stuffing the notes in cabinets in his apartment.

Key points: Lai Xiaomin said he was "too scared to spend" his $42 million in cash bribes

Lai Xiaomin said he was "too scared to spend" his $42 million in cash bribes A Chinese commentator said the scale of the corruption was "quite unusual"

A Chinese commentator said the scale of the corruption was "quite unusual" Xi Jinping is continuing a campaign to crack down on corruption

Lai Xiaomin was the chairman of China Huarong Asset Management — one of the country's top banks — and also served as the Communist Party chief inside the company.

He confirmed taking the bribes during a confession in a documentary on state broadcaster CCTV.

Authorities found the cash was packed into cupboards, along with a large number of other items such as luxury watches, gold and artworks. The documentary also said Mr Lai owned numerous properties and luxury cars.

Mr Lai was a top official in China's financial sector. ( Supplied: CCTV )

The apartment, in China's capital Beijing, was given the nickname "the supermarket" by Mr Lai when talking to people, in a bid to try and hide it from investigating authorities.

"I received [the cash] and put it there, just like going to a supermarket [shelf], so I called it 'the supermarket'," Mr Lai, wearing a navy polo shirt, said on the program.

However, the enormous amount of illicit cash created a head-scratching problem for Mr Lai; he was worried that spending it might expose his corrupt activities to authorities.

"I didn't even spend a cent … It's all confiscated by the [Communist] Party in the end. What's the point to have that much money?" Mr Lai said.

"I was too scared to spend it."

Mr Lai said he didn't spend a cent of the $42 million in his cabinets. ( Supplied: CCTV )

Mr Lai's story has sparked heated discussion on Chinese social media platform Weibo, where the hashtag about the case has been used on posts which have had more than 180 million views.

Tens of thousands of netizens were "impressed" by the similarity between Mr Lai's story and China's political TV drama In The Name of the People.

"It was my first time looking at 200 million yuan in a room. I am impressed," one person commented.

"The issue is if he was 'too scared to spend it', why would he take it?" another Weibo user said.

Chinese shocked at scale of bribery case

Mr Lai was in possession of gold, luxury cars and massive houses. ( Supplied: CCTV )

Mr Lai's case is believed to be among the biggest financial corruption cases in China in recent years.

The ABC obtained a court document that showed Mr Lai was charged in February last year with offences including accepting bribes and corruption during his time as a Party chief and chairman at Huarong.

Liu Yiming, a respected commentator on Chinese politics, said he believed Mr Lai's case shocked many people in China simply because of the vast amount of bribes.

"In previous cases, many ex-officials have embezzled 100 million [yuan], but 200 million was actually quite unusual," Mr Liu told the ABC.

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to crack down on "tigers and flies" in his signature anti-corruption campaign. ( ABC News: Pixabay/Graphic by Jarrod Fankhauser )

The charges against Mr Lai came as Chinese President Xi Jinping continued his campaign to crack down on "tigers and flies" as part of an anti-corruption drive.

The effort — widely embraced by the Chinese public — has helped make Mr Xi the country's most powerful leader in decades, as much of the campaign has targeted his opponents and rivals.

Mr Liu said the media had also been given extra license to report on corruption cases and that made the risks for dishonest officials much greater.

"It not only transformed Chinese authorities' working culture but also stabilised the CCP's regime. Additionally, it advanced Xi Jinping's political position," Mr Liu said.

While the results appeared positive, Mr Liu said China should establish a more robust process for identifying and dealing with corruption cases.

"The current anti-corruption work is only a temporary solution … it is more dependent on political leaders, but we need a complete system to do the work," he said.

"That is the only way that China can have a future."

Xi's campaign targets officials who have fled overseas

The Communist Party is said to have almost 90 million members. ( ABC News: Jarrod Fankhauser )

The latest report by China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection showed more than 500,000 officials and Party members were punished for corrupt behaviour in 2019.

As the crackdown intensifies, corrupt officials have been fleeing from China to western countries in increasing numbers in recent years.

Many of them are believed to be living in Australia, the US and Canada.

In 2015, China identified hundreds of corruption suspects living overseas, including 10 in Australia. Since then about three-quarters of the Australian suspects have returned "voluntarily".

One high-profile case involved former Chinese bank chief Lai Mingmin, who returned to China from Sydney in mid-2018.

He was one of 100 people issued with an Interpol Red Notice under China's "Operation Skynet" campaign, which targets officials overseas.

Mr Liu said as Beijing increased its ability to get those who had fled back to China, corrupt officials were now opting to stay in the country to face punishment and instead get their loved ones out of harm's way.

"In [the] current political environment, many of them intended to stay in China but send families overseas," Mr Liu said.

"They will be hassle- and worry-free in jail."