GUANGZHOU’S Party chief Wan Qingliang is under investigation for corruption, the Party’s anti-graft agency has announced.

    The brief notice by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on Friday said that Wan, 50, Party chief of the provincial capital, which is China’s third-biggest city in terms of economy that boasts 12 million people.

    Wan was suspected of “grave violations of discipline” — a Party euphemism for corruption. A source close to the Guangzhou Government said Wan was taken from the official compound Friday afternoon.

    The announcement came as a surprise to many. A day earlier, Wan had made a public appearance touring a district in the city accompanied by local officials. Friday’s Guangzhou Daily had a report of the tour on its front page.

    Wan built a career as a publicity official in Meizhou in Guangdong Province. Wan served in top posts in Jieyang City from 2003 to 2008, including Party chief.

    It is widely believed that the probe into Wan may be linked to the recent interrogations of his former top aides. Former Guangzhou Vice Mayor Cao Jianliao was detained in December for corruption, along with a number of senior Jieyang officials.

    Wan came under fire soon after he took the Guangzhou post in 2011, when he appeared to suggest that housing prices were too low. He told media at the time that his monthly rent for a luxury flat was only 600 yuan (US$95), despite the market price being five times that.

    At a meeting Thursday, as part of an ongoing “mass line” campaign initiated by President Xi Jinping, Wan urged local officials to better discipline themselves and their relatives, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.(SD-Agencies)