Chairwoman of China’s Inner Mongolia Wang Lixia under scrutiny for corruption

The chairwoman of Inner Mongolia in northern China has been placed under investigation for alleged corruption as part of a wider crackdown in the autonomous region.

Wang Lixia, who is also the region’s deputy Communist Party chief, is suspected of committing “serious violations of discipline and laws”, the party disciplinary body and China’s anti-corruption watchdog announced on Friday.

According to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, Wang is undergoing a disciplinary review and supervisory investigation.

Wang, 61, is of Mongol ethnicity and the fourth senior official from an autonomous region to be investigated so far this year. They are among a small number of top ethnic minority officials who have faced corruption investigations in recent decades.

Born in northeastern Liaoning province, Wang spent most of her career in northwestern Shaanxi before transferring to Inner Mongolia in 2016.

In 2021, she was named chairwoman of the region, becoming the first outsider to hold the post in nearly 30 years. She succeeded Bu Xiaolin – a member of one of the region’s leading political families – who resigned for health reasons.

South China Morning Post