China vice mayor probed for corruption

Liu Zhonghu, former vice mayor of Zhongwei city in northwest China's Ningxia region, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) for alleged corruption, Xinhua learnt Sunday. Liu, born in November 1962 and a CPC member of 27 years, took bribes and embezzled public funds, according to sources with the disciplinary arm of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region's CPC committee. The disciplinary arm also suggested the regional government should dismiss him and will transfer evidence of his crimes to judicial departments for further investigation. Elevated to the position of vice mayor of Zhongwei in April 2012, Liu supervised the city's water affairs, agriculture, husbandry, forestry and ecological development, poverty alleviation and rural development. Before that, he headed the city's bureau of agriculture, husbandry and forestry.