China central bank official under investigation for corruption

BEIJING: A top Chinese central bank official is under investigation for suspected corruption, a government agency said Saturday, as President Xi Jinping’s flagship anti-graft crackdown shows no sign of easing.

Fan Yifei, the deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, is being probed for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law”, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced, using a byword for alleged corrupt practices.

Xi, who last month broke longstanding precedent to secure a third term as China’s top leader, has waged a years-long campaign against corruption since coming to power a decade ago.

More than 1.5 million officials have fallen into its dragnet so far, including 1,100 since the beginning of this year, according to official data.

Chinese authorities say the crackdown has helped root out once deep-seated corruption within the organs of the party and state.

But critics argue that the campaign serves as a fig leaf for Xi to take down political rivals and suppress dissent.

His reappointment as leader last month was preceded by a flurry of high-profile corruption convictions.

In September, former top security official Sun Lijun was given a suspended death sentence for bribery and other crimes, one that will be commuted to life in prison after two years.

A former vice-minister of public security, Sun was found to have abused his power in an array of influential positions over two decades, accepting over 646 million yuan ($90 million) in bribes.

Former justice minister Fu Zhenghua was hit with the same sentence, with a court ruling that he had abused his power in senior roles from 2005 to 2021 and took bribes worth over 117 million yuan.