Another high-ranking Shanghai official is under investigation for corruption, Friday's Shanghai Securities News reports.

Chen Shijie, party chief of the municipal construction committee, is suspected of using his position to help his son profit illegally from real estate projects.

Sixty-three-year old Chen is also vice chairman of the China Real Estate Association, chairman of the Shanghai Real Estate Association and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Shanghai municipal standing committee.

Chen failed to appear at a meeting of the Shanghai Real Estate Association on March 13 and has submitted his resignation from the post of chairman.

Last month, Yin Guoyuan, former deputy director of the Shanghai housing office, land and resources administrative bureau, was placed under investigation.

Zhu Wenjin, director of the bureau's land-utilisation management department, is also under investigation for "abusing his position by allowing others to profit in exchange for cash and expensive gifts".

Former Shanghai Party chief Chen Liangyu was removed from his post for his involvement in the Shanghai pension fund scandal last year. Officials in Shanghai misappropriated 3.7 billion yuan (US$483 million) from the fund to invest in risky real estate, roads and other projects.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2007)