Top Energy Official Sacked as China's Anti-Corruption Probe Widens

The deputy-director of China's National Energy Association has been sacked amid a crackdown on corruption at the body.

Xu Yonghsheng, one of seven deputy-directors at the state energy body, was placed under investigation suspected of accepting bribes.

He has been relieved of his posts in government and the Communist Party, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate announced that Xu and Wang Jun, head of the NEA's renewable energy department, were subject to a criminal investigation over alleged bribe-taking.

Xu's name has already been removed from the organisation's website.

Meanwhile, the head of the nuclear department, Hao Weiping, and deputy-director of the coal department, Wei Pengyuan, are also under investigation, Xinuha reported.

The announcements are the latest in a string of anti-graft investigations over the past year.

Last year Liu Tienan, then deputy head of China's economic planning agency, was relieved of his post in the government and the communist party.

Earlier this month, the Communist Party's anti-graft watchdog announced investigations at Power Construction Corp and China XD Group, as the probe increased in scope.

China's President Xi Jinping initiated an anti-graft campaign when he assumed office last year and has homed in on the energy sector.