China probes top official of Alibaba’s home city

China is investigating Hangzhou’s top government official for serious disciplinary violations, casting a spotlight on the city that is home to Jack Ma’s Ant Group and Alibaba Group Holding.

Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee Secretary Zhou Jiangyong, 53, has been placed under investigation for serious violations of party discipline and state law, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement Saturday. While the agency didn’t elaborate on Zhou’s suspected offenses, the party watchdog routinely uses such terminology to describe corruption probes.

Following the announcement of the probe into Zhou, Hangzhou’s Municipal Standing Committee on Saturday held a meeting affirming its commitment to anti-corruption and responsible governance. A separate CCDI statement said the city will undertake a campaign to root out inappropriate government-business ties. Social media accounts wrote over the weekend that Zhou’s family bought up shares in a fintech company ahead of its initial public offering in November, before the listing plans were scrapped, according to an article from Chnfund that was published in the Paper, part of the state-backed Shanghai United Media Group.