A deputy head of the mainland's top planning agency has been sacked for corruption after allegations against him were first posted online, media said yesterday, in Beijing's latest move against pervasive graft.
Liu Tienan had been removed as deputy of the National Development and Reform Commission for "serious discipline violations", Xinhua quoted the Communist Party's Organisation Department as saying.
President Xi Jinping has promised to tackle corruption, saying it threatens the party's very foundations.
Liu's downfall stemmed from allegations first posted online, an increasingly common way of raising corruption accusations by whistleblowers, investigative journalists and citizens.
China Daily said in an editorial that Liu was the first ministerial-level official to be investigated stemming from online accusations.
"His confirmed investigation is evidence that the authorities are serious about fighting corruption," it said.