Lu Guoping, the former director of the general office and spokesman of Ministry of Land and Resources, has been detained following an investigation into suspected economic crimes, Caijing magazine reported on Friday.

Lu Guoping in this file photo undated. [sohu.com]

"The investigation found Lu was possibly involved in economic crimes during his tenure as head of the general office," the report said, without elaborating.

The 44-year-old Jiangxi native worked as deputy director-general of the ministry's policy and regulation department since July 1998, and became head of the general office in September 2006.

During his term in the general office, Lu's job mainly covered drafting documents, organizing official meetings, news conferences and receptions, as well as handling financial affairs and assets management.

In another development, Du Maoji, former deputy director of the general office of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, was recently sentenced to death for corruption with a two-year suspension, China News Services reported on Thursday.

Between June 2001 and December 2006, Du and two accomplices had siphoned more than 25.9 million yuan from a supermarket construction project in Beijing. Du also took bribes of 1 million yuan during an office building construction project undertaken by his commission.

Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Deputy Secretary He Yong pledged on Thursday that the department will intensify its investigative work and punish corrupt officials with more determination.

"Disciplinary, procuratorial and supervision departments will strive to bring to light such cases where there is abuse of power, graft, bribery, corrupt lifestyles and dereliction of duty," he said while addressing a work conference in Beijing.

He said the government had made tremendous progress in the past five years in dealing with some cases of lawbreaking and violations of discipline.

However, the official confirmed that corruption continues to occur frequently in some departments and areas.

"The situation of corruption is still serious. This task is complicated and arduous and has to be tackled with a long-term vision".

Chen Weidong, a professor of criminal law at Renmin University of China, said the cases indicated that corruption has reached a rather serious extent in the country.

"However, the intensive crackdown, especially the corruption case involving vice-ministerial judicial official Huang Songyou on Wednesday, showed the central government's crackdown efforts are very serious," Chen told China Daily.

(China Daily November 1, 2008)