Acting Communist Party chief of Tianjin placed under investigation for suspected graft
Huang Xingguo, 62, was also mayor of the municipality when a chemical site exploded last year
The Chinese Communist Party has placed its official in charge of the large northern municipality of Tianjin under investigation for possible corruption, the national anti-graft watchdog said late Saturday.
Huang Xingguo, 62, was suspected of “serious violation of disciplines”, a term that usually refers to corruption, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
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Huang was made mayor of Tianjin in 2007 and took on the additional role of acting party secretary in 2014 but he had not yet been permanently appointed – an unusually long time in provincial politics.
Before falling under suspicion, Huang was seen as a contender for the party’s 25-member Politburo, possibly joining the decision-making body at next year’s 19th party congress.
The investigation was announced 13 months after a deadly warehouse blast in Tianjin, for which Huang previously said he bore “unexcusable” responsibility.
