Tianjin mayor suspected of corruption, faces probe

Huang Xingguo, mayor of Tianjin and a member of 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, has been placed under investigation on suspicion of corruption, bringing the number of committee members investigated or convicted to 10.

Huang, 61, was said to have "seriously violated Party discipline", a phrase that often refers to corruption, according to a statement from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's top anti-graft watchdog, on Saturday.

He was appointed mayor of the northern port city southeast of Beijing in January 2008. He was also the city's acting Party chief from December 2014.

Tianjin, one of China's four provincial-level municipalities－along with Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing－caught worldwide attention after massive explosions in August last year at a chemical warehouse that killed about 170 people.

No details about the allegations against Huang were immediately available from the CCDI. He was reported to have performed his duties a day before he was placed under investigation.

Last month, the Party announced it was investigating Yin Hailin, a longtime city planning official who became Tianjin's deputy mayor in 2012, also on suspicion of corruption.

The 18th Central Committee was elected by the 18th National Congress of the CPC in November 2012 and will sit until the next congress, which is expected to be convened in 2017. The Committee was composed of around 205 members and 171 alternates when it was elected.

When a member is removed from the committee, the vacancy is ordinarily filled by an alternate member at the next committee plenum.

According to public information, nine other members of the Central Committee were brought down on corruption charges, including Jiang Jiemin and Ling Jihua, both former senior government officials.

Jiang, the former head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in October.

Ling, former vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, and former head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking bribes, illegally obtaining State secrets and abusing power in July.

Thirteen alternate members have been placed under investigation since the nationwide anti-graft campaign started in 2012.