Senior political adviser Zhang Zhuohua under investigation

Zhang Zhuohua, a senior political adviser, is being investigated for suspected severe duty-related violations, China's top anti-corruption watchdog announced on Friday.

The announcement was disclosed online by the National Commission of Supervision. No further details were released.

Public records show that Zhang, 62, a native of Hunan province, started his career at a medical school in his hometown in July 1983 and joined the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party in November 2011.

From February 1990 to July 1996, he lived in Belgium and the United States for further studies in pathology, cancer, and cell biology. Subsequently, he returned to Hunan and worked in medical research.

In March 2003, he became a professor at a key national laboratory of medical genetics at the Central South University in Changsha, the capital of Hunan. In December 2010, he took up the position of the university's vice-president.

In May 2016, he became the president of the University of South China in Hengyang, another city in Hunan. He also served as the director of the Institute of Precision Molecular Medicine at the Central South University.

Since January 2018, he has been vice-chairman of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body.