GUANGZHOU: Local police are investigating the murder of a government official in the coastal city of Zhanjiang in South China's Guangdong Province.

Chen Zhenghua, 51, deputy director of the Marine and Fishery Bureau of Suixi County (MFBSC) in Zhanjiang, was killed in his office on Wednesday morning at about 10 am.

Sources with the Suixi public security authority told China Daily yesterday that an hour after the murder, Xuan Xiong, 56, director of the MFBSC, confessed to the crime and turned himself over to police.

"We are investigating the cause of death. We were greatly shocked when Xuan surrendered himself since, you know, both Xuan and Chen are government officials working in the same office," said a local police officer surnamed Deng.

Xuan and Chen had been in their positions for several years.

"We've never heard of any personal dispute between them. We are so curious about Xuan's reason for killing his colleague," a clerk at Xuan's bureau who declined to be named was quoted as saying by the Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News.

"Xuan had developed very good relationship with his colleagues. We don't know why he had committed such a crime since he is even afraid of killing a chicken," said the clerk, who formerly worked as Xuan's personal driver.

Xuan returned to his home just before 11 am on Wednesday and was "very depressed", according to his wife.

"He even contemplated suicide, but I stopped him and later he told me that he had killed his colleague," said Xuan's wife.

The murder case follows another case in which six people were killed in the Nanhai District of Foshan in Guangdong.

In that case, initial investigation by the Foshan public security authority said Huang Wenyi, who was suspected of killing five members of his family and one of his employees, might have "suffered from a serious mental problem".

Huang, 34, who was arrested on Monday in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, is being interrogated.

In the latest twist, local police discovered a "secret letter" written by Huang at his home. However, detailed information about the letter has not yet been disclosed.

A police officer surnamed Xiao told China Daily that the final result of that investigation would be announced today.

(China Daily 01/05/2007 page4)