Hubei deputy governor stripped of party membership over bribery, abuse of power

China’s central commission has stripped an ex-Hubei deputy governor of his party membership amid an investigation into his alleged corrupt activities and extramarital affairs.

Guo Youming, 57, has been under investigation for “serious violation of laws and disciplines”, a term for corruption, since November.

The mainland’s anti-graft watchdog, the Central Commission of Discipline Inspection (CCDI), said in a statement today that Guo had taken advantage of his positions to secure perks for his connections. He and his relatives also received large amounts of bribes, it said.

Guo was also accused of immorality, a term typically indicating extramarital affairs.

His illegal earnings will be confiscated and judicial departments will take over his case and the evidence, the CCDI statement said.

Scores of senior officials have been disgraced since President Xi Jinping launched an anti-corruption campaign in 2012.

Guo, a Hubei native, worked in the province’s water conservancies for nearly two decades from 1982 after earning a degree in agricultural irrigation.

After becoming deputy head of the Water Resources Department, he was transferred to Yichang city in 2000 and was promoted as the city’s party chief eight years later.

Guo was named deputy governor of Hubei in August 2011.

China Business News previously reported that Guo might be implicated for illegal real estate activities in Yichang. Several of the city’s property developers were detained before Guo’s downfall.

Guo might have also given special favours to a private Yichang firm, the Three Gorges Quantong Coated and Galvanised Plate Company, which was heavily in debt and was experiencing difficulties in its operations. Media reports said Guo gave the company “generous help”.

Yichang is the headquarters of the graft-scandal-plagued China Three Gorges Corporation, the state-owned firm in charge of building the world’s biggest hydropower project.

At least eight other senior Hubei officials have been placed under investigation over the past six months, including a deputy mayor of Yichang city and the former deputy chief of the provincial People’s Political Consultative Conference.

The central government has reshuffled Three Gorges’ executive board in the wake of the scandals, transferring some members to other posts. Its former chairman, Cao Guangjing, has been named deputy governor of Hubei.