Senior Communist Party chief in Yunnan investigated for corruption
Qiu He's detention may be linked to his extravagant urban projects
Yunnan deputy party chief Qiu He, known for his penchant for grandiose projects, is under investigation for "serious disciplinary violations", says the party graft watchdog.
Qiu, 58, was taken in for questioning over "serious violations of discipline and law" - a euphemism on the mainland for corruption - the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement on its website yesterday.
The news came less than an hour after Premier Li Keqiang's press conference at the end of the annual National People's Congress plenum, where Li said China would continue its campaign to weed out slack and corrupt officials.
Qiu, an NPC delegate, was in Beijing for the parliamentary sessions. Yunnan Daily's front page yesterday was still reporting on Qiu attending a Yunnan delegation meeting on Saturday.
The investigation is believed to be linked to the costly urban reconstruction projects in the province's capital city, Kunming , where Qiu was party boss between 2007 and 2011.
"His fall was widely expected. He is an arrogant and audacious man. He is even worse than [disgraced former Yunnan party chief] Bai Enpei ", a Kunming-based former government adviser told the South China Morning Post.