The mayor of the central Chinese city of Chongqing, Hu Henghua, is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and the law,” state television CCTV reported today.
The state broadcaster said the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission are conducting a “disciplinary review” of Hu, who also serves as deputy secretary of the city’s CCP Municipal Committee. The two bodies are the main organs responsible for investigating irregularities within the ruling party and public administration respectively. CCTV provided no details on the alleged infractions.
In China, the phrase “serious violations of discipline and the law” is routinely used by the anti-corruption apparatus to announce investigations typically related to bribery or other economic crimes.
Read more: Macau: “The Greater Bay Area is advancing with clearly visible results”
The mayor of Chongqing — which administers 32 million inhabitants — becomes the latest official to be targeted in China’s anti-corruption campaign, now running for more than a decade. The then-mayor of the nearby city of Chengdu, Wang Fengchao, was also placed under investigation last November, meaning the mayors of both major cities in central-western China are now under scrutiny from anti-corruption bodies.
Since coming to power in 2012, CCP general secretary and Chinese president Xi Jinping has launched a sweeping anti-corruption offensive targeting officials at all levels, from local cadres to provincial leaders, senior military officials and heads of state conglomerates — a campaign considered one of Xi’s signature programmes that has uncovered numerous cases of bribery and misappropriation within the CCP structure.
