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Zhuhai’s Communist Party boss Li Jia was last seen on public engagements on Tuesday. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Communist Party boss in Zhuhai put under graft probe just one day after attending public events

Li Jia is Guangdong’s fourth official to be accused of corruption since crackdown began

The Communist Party chief in Zhuhai in southern China is under investigation for alleged corruption.

A statement from the government’s anti-graft agency released late on Wednesday said Li Jia has been accused of severely violating party discipline, the euphemism it routinely uses to describe corruption.

No details were given of the allegations against him.

Li has been replaced as party secretary by Guo Yuanqiang, the director of the commerce department in Guangdong province.

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The announcement comes as a surprise as Li was seen attending two public events on Tuesday.

Zhuhai, which borders Macau, is also in the midst of ambitious development plans, including a reclamation project to double the size of the Hengqin free trade zone.

Li, 52, is the fourth provincial-level cadre in Guangdong to be accused of corruption since President Xi Jinping launched a massive anti-graft campaign after taking office.

Guandong has seen more senior officials come under suspicion for corruption during the crackdown than any other area of the country.

The former chairman of the province’s main political advisory body Zhu Mingguo; the ex-provincial deputy governor Liu Zhigeng and former Guangzhou party boss Wan Qingliang are all the focus of corruption investigations.

Li rose to political power from the Communist Youth League.

He graduated from Sun Yat-sen University’s department of electronics in 1987 and was later made the league’s deputy provincial party secretary at the age of 33.

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He spent eight years working in Meizhou in Guangdong from 2003, rising to become the city’s party secretary.

He was transferred to the top job in Zhuhai in 2012,

He also became the youngest member of Guangdong’s party standing committee, the top leaders in the province.

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