Former head of national forestry and grassland body under investigation

Zhang Jianlong, former head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, is under disciplinary inspection and supervisory investigation on suspicion of serious violations of Party discipline and laws, the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission said on Thursday.

The 69-year-old native of Gansu province joined the Communist Party of China in 1985 and spent decades working in the forestry sector. He became deputy head of the then State Forestry Administration in October 2003 and was promoted as the head in 2015.

Following a government institutional restructuring, he took up the posts of member of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Natural Resources and head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration in 2018. He stepped down from his official positions in May 2020.

After that, Zhang also served as a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and deputy director of its Committee on Agriculture and Rural Areas starting from 2020.