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Wang Dongming said former security tsar Zhou Yongkang's long involvement in local affairs were to blame for the province's series of corruption scandals.

Zhou Yongkang's long involvement in Sichuan to blame for province's corruption scandals, says party chief Wang Dongming

The Sichuan party chief yesterday said former security tsar Zhou Yongkang's long involvement in local affairs were to blame for the province's series of corruption scandals.

The Sichuan party chief yesterday said former security tsar Zhou Yongkang's long involvement in local affairs were to blame for the province's series of corruption scandals.

"[His interference] had an abominable effect on Sichuan's political ecosystem," Wang Dongming said at the delegation's open discussion.

He added that it made the province a unique case in the national anti-corruption campaign.

Zhou served as the Sichuan party chief from 1999 to 2002 before being promoted to membership of the Politburo Standing Committee, but he continued to wield his influence there for another decade.

His son, Zhou Bin , entered several business ventures in Sichuan in partnership with local officials.

According to Wang, before the 18th party congress that saw the ascension of President Xi Jinping, many Sichuan officials were eager to "hug big trees" and "climb to higher branches" - colloquialisms for getting close to top officials in the hopes of finding new opportunities.

Wang described the anti-corruption campaign in Sichuan as a difficult, long-term battle but some improvements were already apparent.

Since 2012, more than 27,900 officials had been punished, including 60 city and bureau-level cadres, and more than 24,600 cases of violations of party discipline had been investigated, Wang said.

"While these numbers show our determination, they also show the seriousness of violations … among party members."

The investigation into Zhou has brought down several senior cadres in Sichuan and other provinces. They include the former chairman of the provincial political advisory body, Li Chongxi ; the former chairman of Sichuan's Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Guo Yongxiang; former Chengdu party chief, Li Chunchen and former Hainan deputy governor, Tan Li.

The central anti-graft authorities announced Zhou was being investigated last July, and his case was transferred to prosecutors in January.

Sichuan, Jiangxi and Shanxi are the provinces hit hardest by the anti-corruption crackdown launched by Xi in late 2012.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Zhou corrupted Sichuan, says party chief
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