Engineering academy strips title from Meng Wei

The Chinese Academy of Engineering has revoked the academician title of Meng Wei, a senior environmental engineer currently being investigated on suspicion of severe disciplinary violations, the academy said on Tuesday.

Meng, 61, is the vice-chairman of the Environment Protection and Resources Conservation Committee. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection first announced the investigation on its website on Friday.

Meng, who specializes in water pollution management, became an academician in 2009. He formerly served as the head of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.

Meng is the first high-ranking official to be investigated after the end of the 19th National People's Congress on Oct 24. He is also the third academician from the academy whose title has been revoked in the past two years.

Li Ning, an agricultural bioengineer, lost his title in January 2015 due to illegally transferring around 20 million yuan of research funding to his holding company, according to the academy.

In October 2015, Major General Zhou Guotai, a material engineer for bulletproof vests, was the first academician to be investigated by the CCDI on suspicion of severe disciplinary violations. Shortly after, the academy revoked his title.