More supervision is needed to prevent financial crime in China, according to a survey by a major legal magazine.

The survey, conducted by the Legal Daily's Faren magazine, found that almost one third of 602 crimes committed by entrepreneurs last year related to investment and financing.

The data was collated from publicly available information that had been released by Chinese courts and State-owned media in the previous 12 months.

"The data showed we were short of supervision in investment and financing last year, which served as a disadvantage," said Lyu Bin, who led the survey.

Bribery, misappropriation of assets, fraud and embezzlement were the major crimes committed, according to the survey.

Of the 602 cases studied, 335 related to State-owned enterprises, where graft and fraud were the most common crimes, and 267 were from the private sector, where illegal lending was most prevalent.

The magazine forecast that the number of cases committed by employees of State-owned enterprises will fall as the country strengthens its fight against corruption, but it suggested that the government pay more attention to supervision of the private lending and financing sectors, which have increased in popularity in recent years.