Mayor of Ziyang city, Deng Quanzhong, under investigation
NPC delegate regarded as an important ally of Li Chuncheng, who was expelled from Communist Party in April
The mayor of Ziyang city in Sichuan province has been placed under investigation by the discipline inspection department, the Southern Weekly reported last night, quoting several anonymous sources.
Deng Quanzhong, 52, who is also a National People’s Congress delegate, was regarded as an important ally of the former Sichuan deputy party secretary Li Chuncheng, who had close ties to retired security tsar Zhou Yongkang.
“[Deng is] one of the people that Li trusted the most,” the Southern Weekly quoted a source as saying.
Li was expelled from the Communist Party in April amid a corruption investigation.
Zhou, formerly a member of the party's powerful Politburo, is the highest-ranking party official to be caught up in the government’s anti-corruption crackdown, and his case shattered a party taboo in which retired officials would largely be left untouched by scandal and investigations.
On the website of the Ziyang government, all the information about Deng, such as his name, photo and introduction, has been deleted. But he has not yet been removed as the city’s mayor.