A rising political star and the former right-hand man of Vice-President Li Yuanchao is under investigation for suspected serious violations of Communist Party discipline, a euphemism for corruption.
The party’s graft watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, announced the investigation into Jiangsu vice-governor Li Yunfeng in a statement on its website on Monday.
Li Yunfeng, 59, was the director of the provincial party committee’s general office between 2003 and 2007, when Li Yuanchao was Jiangsu’s party secretary.
He was generally regarded as one of Li Yuanchao’s top aides when the latter oversaw the province.
The 59-year-old became an alternate member of the party’s Central Committee during the 18th national congress in late 2012, when Li Yuanchao was the top official in charge of promoting senior cadres.
Given his relative youth and good party ranking, Li Yunfeng was widely considered a strong contender to be named Jiangsu’s governor in the next major personnel reshuffle in 2018.
Li Yunfeng is the fourth “tiger”, or high-ranking official, to fall from grace in Jiangsu in the past 2½ years.
In October 2013, former Nanjing mayor Ji Jianye was the first provincial-level official to go in the wake of the 18th congress. Roughly a year later, Zhao Shaolin, who had retired eight years earlier as secretary general of the provincial party committee, came under investigation. Nanjing party chief Yang Weize followed in early 2015.
Li Yunfeng made his last public appearance on Wednesday last week when he presided over a conference on coastal development in the province, according to state media.
