BEIJING - CHINA has launched a sweeping crackdown on graft in the boom city of Shenzhen, just north of Hong Kong, seeking to rein in unruly officials and soothe public anger over high-level vice, analysts said.

The campaign, which has already cost the city mayor his job, comes just three years after an anti-corruption drive led to a trail of top officials and businessmen being jailed in the financial centre Shanghai.

President Hu Jintao has repeatedly insisted that fighting corruption is a question of 'life and death' for the ruling Communist Party, and the fact that the battle is now taken to Shenzhen only raises the stakes.

Shenzhen mayor Xu Zongheng, 53, was placed under internal Communist Party investigation earlier this month for 'serious violations of discipline,' state media reported.

Such charges often result in graft convictions in China's judicial system, which is overseen by the ruling party. It may have especially triggered Beijing's ire that Xu reportedly bought his way to power, challenging the party's monopoly on appointments.

According to media reports, Xu is also being probed for links to Huang Guangyu, formerly China's second-richest man and the founder of Gome Electrical Appliances, one of the nation's largest home retailers.

Huang was arrested earlier this year on suspicion of financial crimes, including manipulation of the stock market.

Xu's wife as well as a vice mayor, a former assistant minister of police, and a leading Guangdong politician may also be under investigation for alleged links to Huang, local media have said.

The upcoming 60th anniversary of the communist state is an additional occasion for the leadership to worry about what upsets people, and few issues are as consistent a source of discontent as corruption. -- AFP