BEIJING, May 20 (Reuters) - Chinese Communist Party discipline authorities are investigating a former vice president at Agricultural Bank of China on suspicion of accepting bribes, media said on Monday, the latest casualty in a campaign against corruption.
Yang Kun is being investigated by the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for "serious violations of the law", the state Xinhua news agency said on its official microblog, confirming an earlier Reuters story.
State media said the move underscored the commitment by newly installed President Xi Jinping to tackle corruption head-on. Since taking over as Communist Party head in November from Hu Jintao, Xi has vowed to root out corruption no matter how high it is, warning that the party's survival would be at risk if it did not take the problem seriously.
"Yang Kun took advantage of his position to seek benefits for others and accepted huge bribes," Xinhua said, adding that his case has been transferred to judicial authorities.
Yang, who resigned last July, was also expelled from the party, Xinhua said. A spokeswoman for the Agricultural Bank of China confirmed the report but declined to comment further.
The investigation into Yang comes a week after a deputy head of China's top planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, was sacked for corruption.
Xi has said it is just as important to go after the "tigers", or top officials, in the battle against graft, as well as "flies", or more junior people.
China's attempts to tackle corruption have snagged increasingly senior officials, such as former Railways Minister Liu Zhijun who was charged last month with corruption and abuse of power. (Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee in BEIJING and Samuel Shen in SHANGHAI; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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