Two officials in Shenzhen removed

By Chen Hong (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-27 08:22

SHENZHEN: Two district officials in this southern city have been removed from their posts due to their alleged connection with the graft case of former Mayor Xu Zongheng, who has been under investigation since early June.

Yu Weiliang, 49, former secretary of the Longgang District Committee of the Communist Party of China, is being investigated for suspicion of violating disciplines, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency on Sunday.

The other official is Chen Shengxing, former chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Longgang Committee.

Yu, a native of Guangdong, became director of Longgang in early 2006 and was appointed the district's Party secretary in April 2007.

Many of Yu's colleagues were shocked at his sudden removal since he had earned a good reputation among both government officials and people as a hard-working leader. He was generally regarded as caring about lives of the local residents, according to a report by Southern Metropolis Daily.

Yu reportedly was investigated for corruption in the construction of some major projects.

A report by China News Service said the fixed assets investment of the district was as high as 44.5 billion yuan ($6.5 billion) in 2008, due to the construction of a few big infrastructure projects including venues for the Shenzhen Universiade 2011, a major sports event for university athletes.

The fixed investment amount for Longgang district accounted for one third of Shenzhen's total last year and will further increase to 54.5 billion yuan this year.

Jiang Zunyu, 52, was appointed as the new Party secretary of Longgang District and took the post today.

He was elected as the director for the new Shenzhen environmental commission in August in a reshuffle of the Shenzhen government.