The former Party chief of Shizong county in Yunnan Province is under investigation for alleged corruption after a coal mine gas leak killed 43 people.
The gas leak occurred at the Sizhuang Coal Mine on November 10 last year, trapping 43 miners underground.
Thirty-five bodies were retrieved, and the other eight miners' bodies have not been found.
An investigation into the fatal accident found that Wang Jianzhong, then-Party chief of Shizong, had "allegedly violated discipline and laws" in his contacts with the owner of the coal mine, the provincial commission for discipline inspection said.
The commission gave no further details of the alleged corruption.
Four managers of the Sizhuang Coal Mine have been detained, and four county coal mine safety officials are under investigation over dereliction of duty.
Xinhua