Guangzhou officials probed over alleged graft

Two senior officials from the capital of Guangdong province have been put under shuanggui, a procedure in which Party and government officials are asked to confess to wrongdoing at a stipulated time and place, for serious violation of Party discipline and State laws.

Guo Qinghe, deputy Party chief and mayor of Conghua, a suburban city of Guangzhou, and Liu Yantang, deputy director of Guangzhou City Administration of Forestry and Gardening, have been removed from their posts and are undergoing further investigation, Mei Heqing, a member of the standing committee of the city's Party anti-graft body, said on Monday.

Guo, 49, was promoted to deputy Party chief and acting mayor of Conghua in February 2011, and elected mayor of Conghua in September.

But Mei did not reveal details about Guo's and Liu's cases at Monday's news conference organized by the anti-graft body.

Guo and Liu are the latest two Party and government officials to be investigated for serious violations of Party discipline and State laws in the southern metropolis, Mei said.

The commission has investigated 61 officials of county-level or higher since the beginning of last year.

He Jing, former deputy Party chief and deputy director of Guangzhou public security bureau, was found to have taken huge bribes when he was in office from 2003 to 2012.

He was removed from his post last August and has been transferred to a judicial organ for further investigation, Mei added.

Other senior Party and government officials investigated on suspicion of having accepted bribes include Li Zhizhen, former chief of the Guangzhou bureau of civil affairs, Zhang Jianguo, former deputy chief of the Guangzhou Administrative Committee of Urban Management, and Dai Yuqing, former publisher and Party chief of Guangzhou Daily Group.

Li, 50, is suspected of taking bribes worth more than 3 million yuan ($477,707), plus HK$90,000 ($11,600), a large sum of foreign currencies, jade, gold, watches, jewelry and furniture.

Zhang is suspected of accepting 3.92 million yuan and $20,000 in bribes.

Dai is suspected to have accepted more than 2 million yuan in bribes.

Li, Zhang and Dai have all been transferred to judicial organs for further investigation and possible future prosecution, according to Mei.

Mei said the commission will take more concrete and effective measures to prevent and fight corruption in 2013.