11 November 2015•Update: 11 November 2015
BEIJING
Two senior Chinese Communist Party officials are being investigated for "severe disciplinary violations" -- party jargon for "corruption".
State news agency Xinhua reported Wednesday that the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) was looking into claims that Beijing Deputy Party Chief Lyu Xiwen had violated its disciplinary code.
On Tuesday, the commission announced it was investigating Shanghai Vice Mayor and Party Committee Member Ai Baojun for the same offenses.
The charges are part of an ongoing anti-corruption drive launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013.
Since the investigation began, tens of thousands of suspects have been called in, including dozens of high-profile members.
Up until now, Beijing and Shanghai were the only provincial governments in which senior officials had been left untouched, although earlier this year the government introduced trial measures in Shanghai limiting the business activities of senior party members' relatives.
China Daily reported Tuesday that Shanghai Party Secretary Han Zheng had said Ai's case was "very distressing", calling on cadres and party leaders to take it as a warning.
Hundreds of suspects have been named and shamed by the CCDI -- which makes selected graft cases public through statements on its website -- for embezzlement of public funds, accepting bribes, dereliction of duty, lavish banquets and other behavior classed as violation of discipline.
On a visit to the United States in September, Xi defended the investigations as not politically motivated.
"We have punished both tigers and flies," he was quoted by Xinhua as saying. "This has nothing to do with power struggles."
