The Communist Party’s personnel chief in the northern Chinese port of Tianjin is facing a corruption investigation, the country’s top anti-graft agency said on Thursday.
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The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Zhou Derui, 59, head of Tianjin’s party organisation department, is being investigated on suspicion of “serious violations of discipline and law” – a standard euphemism for corruption.
His downfall was announced just two days after the end of the annual meeting of the national legislature and top political advisory body – an event collectively known as the “two sessions”.
The announcement means he is the ninth official ranked at vice-ministerial level or above to be placed under investigation this year.
Zhou spent most of his political career in his home province of Hunan, where he rose to become party secretary of Changde city in 2017.
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He was made Tianjin’s publicity chief in 2021 and became the local party’s personnel head the following year.