Kunming deputy mayor investigated for graft

Another official in Yunnan province has become the target of a corruption probe.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, the country's top anti-graft watchdog, said on Tuesday that Li Xi, executive deputy mayor of Kunming, the provincial capital, is suspected of "grave violations of law and discipline" - a term the commission uses to indicate corruption.

The commission gave no further details about the allegations in the statement, which it released on its website.

Li, 52, is also a member of the standing committee of the CPC Kunming city committee. The committee's 13 members include the city's Party chief and the mayor.

Li, who assumed his current post in June, was in charge of the city's finance, tax, agriculture, forestry and poverty-reduction work.

A local-government insider told China Daily that anti-graft officials took Li away on Monday night.

The source, an official from the local agricultural authority that was under Li's administration, said that the allegations against Li are related to his work from April 2006 to July 2008, when he was the Party chief of Anning, a county-level city administrated by Kunming.

In February, Zhou Xicai, an official from Anning, was accused in an online post of sending cash gifts to his leaders during the festivals, and buying expensive cars and having lavish banquets at public expense.

While investigating Zhou, anti-graft authorities found that Li was allegedly involved in the case, according to the source. Zhou was removed from his post and transferred to judicial authorities for further investigation in May.

Another source from Anning city government has also confirmed that Zhou, a former private entrepreneur, had been promoted by Li.

A number of senior provincial-level officials in Yunnan province have been investigated for corruption since last year amid the Party's anti-graft campaign.

Zhang Tianxin, the then-Party chief of Kunming, was removed from his post in July for suspected discipline violations.

On August 6, Shen Peiping, former vice-governor of Yunnan province, was expelled from the Party on corruption allegations. On Aug 29, Bai Enpei, former Party chief of Yunnan province, was investigated on corruption charges.

Contact the writers at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn and liyingqing@chinadaily.com.cn??

(China Daily 10/22/2014 page4)