Wei Hong, governor of China’s Sichuan province, under investigation for corruption

Wei Hong, the governor of Sichuan province in China and an associate of the jailed national security tsar Zhou Yongkang, is under investigation for alleged corruption.

The probe was indicated by a senior official at a press conference held by China’s anti-graft authority.

The announcement ends weeks of speculation about Wei’s whereabouts.

READ MORE: China’s Communist Party graft-busters to widen political watch in 2016

Wei, 61, is the second serving governor to be placed under investigation for corruption amid the central government’s sweeping anti-graft campaign.

The authorities announced in October that the former governor of Fujian, Su Shulin, was under investigation for alleged graft. His resignation was “accepted” the following month.

Wei was a deputy in the organisation department in Sichuan in charge of the appointment of Communist Party cadres when Zhou came to govern the province in 1999.

Wei was promoted twice before Zhou left in 2002, first as party boss in Ya’an and later head of the organisation department.