Shanxi's top official visits city at center of graft scandal

The newly appointed top official of coal-rich Shanxi province, Wang Rulin, has visited Lyuliang, the center of a corruption scandal that has swept the province.

Wang made the visit last week.

The city was a revolutionary base during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). It is notorious for corruption and faces problems that affect its economic and social development.

Shanxi is the nation's largest coal-producing region and has produced many millionaires and even billionaires.

Five members of the 13-person top provincial decision-making body have been investigated for corruption.

The province has been under close scrutiny since the nation launched an anti-corruption campaign almost two years ago.

Lyuliang used to be one of the poorest cities in China, but its fortunes were transformed by its coal resources, which tripled its gross domestic product in seven years, under the leadership of three of the five officials being investigated.

Although details of the officials are not known, the consolidation of coal mines was one of their major achievements, changing the fortunes of many miners, either making them wealthy or homeless.

During his visit to Lyuliang, Wang, the Party chief of Shanxi, showed his determination to fight corruption by visiting the tomb of Yu Chenglong, a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) official known for his resistance to corruption as well as his dedication. The city was Yu's hometown.

"We should be ashamed if such a frugal official's tomb cannot be maintained," Wang said when he saw its dilapidated state.

He praised Yu as being a good example for government officials.

Wang has been reassigned from Jilin province, where no senior official has been investigated for corruption so far. He is expected to help clean up the political environment in Shanxi, where more than one-third of provincial standing committee members were placed under investigation for abuse of power.

Xue Lan, a professor at Tsinghua University's School of Public Policy and Management, said Wang's appointment and visit shows the determination of the Party's central leadership to fight corruption.