Ningbo publicity chief probed

The head of the publicity office at Ningbo, Zhejiang province, has been placed under investigation, the local anti-graft authority announced on Thursday.

Hong Jiaxiang, 54, a native of the city, is also a member of the standing committee of the CPC's Ningbo committee. He is being investigated for "serious violation of Party discipline", a phrase often used to refer to corruption. However, there is no mention of a "violation of laws", and the announcement did not give any details.

Hong previously worked in the administrative office of the city's government and worked his way up to deputy governor in February 2012. He was moved up to a position in the core government leadership as a member of the standing committee in June.

He attended a cultural festival in Ningbo on Nov 24 and delivered a speech at the opening ceremony, according to media reports.

A local source said Hong's reported "serious violation of Party discipline" was not connected to his current position at the publicity office. The matters under investigation are alleged to have happened when he held posts in the economic development zone in Cixi and later served as the city's deputy Party chief, according to the source.

Hong is alleged to have misused his powers in land planning and real estate development from 2001 to 2006 in Cixi, and helped cover illegal activities by a businessman in the city in 2009, the source said.

He is said to have colluded with real estate developers, buying houses from them at unreasonably low prices in Hongzhou and Shanghai, where prices were skyrocketing.

The source said Hong had been receiving double pay since February 2006 as he held a Party post in Cixi and was head of the economic development zone in the region, and had accepted an extra annual salary of more than 200,000 yuan ($32,000).