What’s new: A former vice-chairman of Hunan province’s top legislature has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and removed from public office for violations including falsifying data and associating with “political swindlers,” authorities said.
Peng Guofu, who fell under a graft probe in January, was also found to have violated the party’s frugality code and accepted money for helping others get promotions and project contracts, according to a Sunday statement from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Peng’s actions serious violated the party’s “political, organizational, integrity and life discipline,” the statement said, adding that his bribery-related charges have been handed over to prosecutors.
The 61-year-old is also the third former party secretary of Huaihua, a multi-ethnic city in Central China’s Hunan province, to be investigated by anti-corruption agencies in the past decade.
The background: Peng, a Hunan native, spent his entire professional career in his home province, according to public information. He was named vice chairman of the standing committee of the Hunan Provincial People’s Congress in 2021. Previously, he taught at Xiangtan University after obtaining a degree in philosophy there.
During Peng’s near-seven-year tenure as the party chief of Huaihua, he vowed to investigate a high-profile “playground burial” murder case that had been kept under wraps for years. The investigation revealed a chain of corruption that led to firing of 19 public officials.
Huaihua’s two other disgraced ex-party secretaries were Zhang Wenxiong and Li Yilong, who were sentenced to 15 and 18 years, respectively, in prison for crimes including bribery.
Contact reporter Kelly Wang (jingzhewang@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
