Previous district Party chief also being investigated for corruption

WENZHOU, Zhejiang - A former Party chief of Ouhai district in Wenzhou has been detained for allegedly killing his mistress as well as for corruption, media has reported.

On Wednesday, officials from the Zhejiang provincial department of public security said that Xie Zaixing, former secretary of the Ouhai district committee of the Communist Party of China, was put into criminal detention by the West Lake branch of Hangzhou public security bureau on Sunday.

The Standing Committee of Ouhai District People's Congress, or the legislature, deprived Xie of his qualification to serve as a deputy to the Wenzhou People's Congress due to the allegations.

A local police source told China Daily that Xie was arrested on Sunday afternoon in a bathroom at a hotel room in Wenzhou, where he was temporarily staying. He was taken to Hangzhou for questioning and for further investigation.

The 48-year-old Xie, who is originally from Linhai in Zhejiang, had held the position as magistrate in Sanmen county of Zhejiang.

While the police said the investigation into Xie's case is ongoing, online forums in Wenzhou have been speculating that Xie is suspected of murdering his mistress in Hangzhou.

The Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News said Xie is suspected of choking his mistress, Shao Huiling, with a quilt during a quarrel at a hotel room in Hangzhou.

Netizens found an online memorial site for Shao, who was in her 30s. More than 4,600 netizens had visited the site by Wednesday, the newspaper said.

Shao, who was previously the deputy secretary of the youth league of Sanmen county, had an affair with Xie for more than 10 years since he worked as the magistrate for the county, the report said.

The Guangzhou-based 21st Century Business Herald reported on Wednesday that Xie was also alleged to have been involved in corruption during his previous term in office as the magistrate of Sanmen county.

The report said Xie had illegally transferred 37 hectares of farmland in a local village in April 2003.

Xie's case is not the first time that officials at or above county level have been accused of illegal acts in the past two years in Wenzhou.

Yang Xianghong, the former Party secretary of Lucheng district in Wenzhou, who was suspected of corruption, fled to France during a business trip in September 2008.

Dai Guosen, the former deputy Party secretary and director of the Economic and Technological Development Zone of Wenzhou, was sentenced to 13 years in jail in November for taking bribes of more than 1.5 million yuan ($221,000).

Huang Anbo, a former top official of Pinyang county in Wenzhou, was given a jail term of 11 years in December for accepting bribes totaling more than 740,000 yuan and causing an economic loss of more than 4 million yuan to the State.