No joke: Chinese comedian Zhao Benshan may evade graft crackdown
Recent low profile had fuelled rumours, but appearance at CPPCC is likely to quash them
Comedian Zhao Benshan is to attend the national political advisory body's annual meeting in March, in a sign he may be safe from a rumoured corruption investigation.
The confirmation of Zhao's attendance at the session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was reported by mainland media on Thursday.
Zhao, who has a flamboyant image and is well connected with senior officials, is a household name. But for the past year, as the anti-graft drive by President Xi Jinping intensified, he has kept an unusually low profile, fuelling rumours he may be under investigation.
The West China City Daily, which broke the news of Zhao's attendance at the meeting, said he had been conducting grass-roots research and was preparing a proposal for the CPPCC.
The paper reported that "quite a few" other celebrities had also become CPPCC members, and some of their proposals had already had an impact in the entertainment industry. One such proposal, made in 2013, was to stop holding extravagant galas.
Zhao's connections and fortune - he owns a high-end Beijing club - have made him a topic of speculation over who will be hauled up next in Xi's campaign.