Mayor of Chinese port city under investigation, say graft-busters

A mayor in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang has become the latest target snared in the national anti-graft campaign.

As top leaders and legislators wrapped up the annual parliamentary session in Beijing on Wednesday, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) announced that Ningbo mayor and deputy Communist Party secretary Lu Ziyue was under investigation on suspicion of seriously violating discipline, a term often used to refer to corruption.

The CCDI gave no further details in a one-sentence statement on its website, but mainland media speculated that Lu’s case was related to the downfall of disgraced former presidential aide Ling Jihua.令

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Lu, 54, was believed to be an associate of Si Xinliang, a retired senior Zhejiang official who was charged with taking bribes in return for handing out promotions, online news portal NetEase cited people familiar with the case as saying. The report claimed the investigation into Si cast a shadow over Lu’s otherwise bright political career.

Si was in charge of the party’s personnel affairs in the province and is believed to be linked to an entrepreneur who had business ties with Ling’s wife.

However, it is unclear if Lu or Si had direct a connection with the Lings.

The NetEase report appeared on the website in the afternoon but was soon removed.