Chen Chuanping Party Secretary of Taiyuan on Trail

More high-level officials in the coal- rich northern province of Shanxi have run afoul of graft fighters recently， as the Communist Partys Central Discipline Inspection Commission（CDIC） says it is investigating two more leaders.

The CDIC said on its website on August 23 that Chen Chuanping， a member of provinces party standing committee and the party chief of the provincial capital of Taiyuan， and Nie Chunyu， secretary general of the same standing committee， were placed under investigation for"serious violations of discipline and law."

The partys graft fighter uses the phrase to mean corruption.The administration of Xi Jinping launched a campaign against corruption in late 2012， and Shanxi Province has been one of the focal points. Counting Chen and Nie， five high-level officials in the province have become the subjects of inquiries. The other three – Jin Daoming， former vice chairman of the provincial legislatures standing committee， Du Shanxue， vice provincial governor， and Ling Zhengce， the vice chairman of Shanxis top political advisory body– have lost their jobs.

Both Chen and Nie appeared in public on August 22， the day before the CDIC announced it was investigating them. Their sudden downfall –an investigation is usually career-ending – were unsurprising to many in the Shanxi government.

Chen， 52， spent 26 years in state-owned Taiyuan Iron & Steel （Group） Co. Ltd. In February 2000， he was named general manager of the company. The next year he rose to chairman.

During his tenure， Chen pushed for improved quality control and for expansion that saw the company become the worlds largest producer of stainless steel. In 2007， it reported revenue of more than 100 billion yuan and profits of 9.6 billion yuan. That year， Chen was named an alternate to the Central Committee， the partys nexus of national power.

Chen became an official in January 2008 when he was appointed vice governor of the province. The position put him in charge of overseeing industry development， work safety， social security and the managing of state-owned assets.endprint