China investigates top Guangdong official over 'discipline'
HONG KONG (Reuters) - A top official in China's prosperous Guangdong province is being investigated for "serious discipline violations", which is often a euphemism for corruption, state media said on Friday. The official, Cao Jianliao, is vice mayor of Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong, and Communist Party chief of Zengcheng, a built-up district on the southern fringes of Guangzhou, the Xinhua news agency said. If the investigation is over suspected corruption, Cao would be one of the most senior officials in Guangdong to be caught up in a campaign against graft since Hu Chunhua, a high-flying official tipped as a future national leader, became the province's party chief last December. Xinhua gave no other details about the investigation. Guangdong is one of China's most affluent regions, encompassing the industrial and export powerhouse of the Pearl River Delta, which borders Hong Kong. It has in recent years been hit by a string of high-profile corruption cases. President Xi Jinping has pursued an aggressive anti-corruption drive since coming to power, establishing an anti-graft watchdog and vowing to pursue high-flying "tigers" as well as lowly "flies". (Reporting by James Pomfret; Editing by Robert Birsel)
