Former NDRC official ‘under investigation’

A former senior official at China's top economic planning agency who oversaw pricing is being investigated, financial news portal caixin.com reported on Wednesday.

Cao Changqing, who retired in May as the head of the pricing division at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), had been "taken in for questioning" around Sunday, caixin.com said, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The NDRC did not reply to a request for comment.

The news of Cao's investigation comes five days after the Supreme People's Procuratorate said Zhang Dongsheng, former head of the employment and income distribution division with the NDRC, was being investigated on suspicion of "taking bribes."

The NDRC sets policy for strategic industries, approves big investments, mergers and acquisitions, and has the authority to influence prices for many goods.

The pricing division is one of the most powerful departments within the NDRC, as it has the authority to approve many things such as on-grid electricity tariffs, the report said.

Caixin.com also cited an unnamed source as saying, "Cao might have been implicated in the National Energy Administration (NEA) corruption scandal."

In June, Liu Tienan, then head of the NEA and a former deputy chief of the NDRC, had been charged with legal violations. According to an indictment issued by the Langfang City People's Procuratorate, Liu sought benefits for others by taking advantage of his position, and accepted "an extremely large amount" of financial incentives.