Another top official in Guangdong is being investigated over graft allegations, but analysts say the ongoing anti-corruption campaign is unlikely to target practices entrenched at the core of the Communist Party.
Dr Zhou Zhenhong, director of the Guangdong party committee's United Front Work Department and a member of its standing committee, was under investigation for severe violations of discipline, Xinhua reported yesterday.
Zhou, 54, was taken away by the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on Monday. The provincial government website said he attended the closing meeting of the annual session of Guangdong's Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on Sunday.
The Xinhua report gave no details of the inquiry or the charges Zhou faces. The office of the anti-graft watchdog could not be reached for comment yesterday and the official website of the provincial United Front Work Department was down.
Professor Cai Lihui , a political analyst at Guangzhou's Sun Yat-sen University, said: 'We should be happy to see Zhou's downfall, which shows signs the anti-corruption campaign will move on this year, towards province-level leaders.
'But we also have to realise that most corrupt, high-ranking officials fall because they took bribes many years ago. Why can't the watchdogs target and beat corruption that is happening now?