First senior Chinese official targeted in new anti-corruption drive Another senior Chinese leader, Zhou Yongkang, was also involved in the same project during his time as Sichuan's party secretary. "Mr Li and Mr Zhou saw strong opposition to this plant from the public," said Ai Nanshan, a former professor at Sichuan university who campaigned against the plant. Other government officials in Chengdu did not agree with it either, but they were gagged and public complaints were suppressed. The local newspapers did not even dare to report that it had gone into operation this year," he added. Mr Zhou's ties to Mr Li raise the possibility that the anti-corruption drive may be part of a new factional battle within the Party. Mr Zhou was a supporter of the disgraced former politburo member Bo Xilai, whose case divided the senior leadership. Mr Li's career has been under a cloud since 2008 when the Sichuan earthquake struck. At the time, Mr Li was the party chief of Chengdu and had spent £110 million on a lavish new government offices. He incurred the wrath of Wen Jiabao, the then premier, by moving into the offices shortly after the earthquake. Mr Wen visited the new building but left "in disgust, having spent less than three minutes in it," according to a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks. Mr Li was forced to move out, sell the building and give the proceeds to the earthquake reconstruction fund. Xi Jinping, who will become China's president in March, said last month that corruption would "doom the Party and the state" and must be immediately tackled. He appears to have wasted little time in putting his words into action. One former Chinese newspaper editor said there were also rumours that the wife of Ling Jihua, a former aide to Hu Jintao, the current president, has been put under investigation. Meanwhile, investigators have begun to scrutinise the casinos of Macau, a major artery for money to flow out from the mainland. In recent weeks, casino operators have seen tighter restrictions on money transfers, according to the Wall Street Journal. A number of men who provide credit to Chinese high rollers have also been detained, the newspaper reported.