What’s new: Li Jinzhu, a former senior legislator of Northwest China’s Shaanxi province and a coal industry veteran, has been placed under investigation by the country’s top graft watchdog.
Li, former deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Shaanxi Provincial People’s Congress, is suspected of “serious violations of (Communist Party) discipline and law,” the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement Monday, using a common euphemism for corruption.
The 68-year-old is the first senior official from the major coal-producing province to be investigated for alleged graft since the 20th national party congress in October. This marks the 22nd case this year of a mid-level official being ensnared in Beijing’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign.
In early May, the graft watchdog in Shaanxi province announced investigations into two retired officials who had served as subordinates to Li during his tenure in the resource-rich city of Yulin.
The background: A native of North China’s Hebei province, Li obtained a degree in mine surveying in 1982 from Fuxin Mining Institute, predecessor of Liaoning Technical University. He subsequently worked for the now-defunct coal industry ministry until 1993, and later held multiple senior positions at the China Coal Research Institute, including party chief, until 2001.
In 2007, he was promoted to mayor of Yulin, after which he climbed the ranks to become vice governor of Shaanxi province in 2011 and deputy head of the legislature in 2015.
Contact reporter Wang Xintong (xintongwang@caixin.com) and editor Leila Hashemi (leilahashemi@caixin.com)
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