4 officials investigated by prosecutors for graft

Four former Chinese officials are under investigation for abuse of power and bribery allegations, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Thursday.

Liu Qingcheng, former president and deputy party chief of the East China Institute of Technology, is being investigated for alleged bribe taking.

At least 19 officials from China's institutions of higher learning system have been investigated so far this year. Most of them are university presidents or college deans.

The other three officials published by the SPP on Thursday are Ma Weiling from Guangdong Province, Liu Hongtao from Henan Province and Song Shigang from Gansu Province. All the three are provincial department level officials.

Ma, Liu Hongtao and Song are probed for suspected violations of law, including bribe taking, abuse of power and bending the law for personal gains.

SPP said in a statement that investigation work carried out by provincial procuratorate authorities is still underway.