What’s new: The mayor of the capital of Southwest China’s Guizhou province is under investigation by the local corruption watchdog, making him the fourth person in that position to be probed for graft since 2011.
Ma Ningyu, 47, is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law,” the Guizhou Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a one-line statement published Tuesday afternoon. The phrase is a common euphemism for corruption.
Ma’s last public appearance was the day before on a visit to a district in Guiyang to inspect the construction of an ethnic culture park, according to a Tuesday report in the Guiyang Daily.
The background: Ma, a native of Xi’an in northwestern province of Shaanxi, spent the majority of his professional career in Guizhou, serving in positions including secretary of the Communist Youth League of China’s Guizhou branch as well as director of the provincial economic and informatization commission.
A graduate of the prestigious Tsinghua University with a doctorate in engineering, Ma was named the first head of Guizhou’s Big Data Development Administration in 2016, a role he served in until 2021.
Ma’s three predecessors who have been caught in the country’s anti-corruption crackdown are Li Zaiyong, who later became vice governor of Guizhou; Liu Wenxin, who served as mayor of Guiyang from 2013 to 2017; and Chen Yan, the vice chairman of the provincial political consultative body who was investigated in March.
Contact reporter Kelly Wang (jingzhewang@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
