A top legislator in Liaoning province is being investigated for taking bribes from property developers, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Song Yong, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial People's Congress, is under investigation for corruption crimes from 2002 to 2008, when he was mayor and later Party secretary of the city of Chaoyang, Xinwenhua Post reported. The newspaper was based in Liaoning's neighboring province of Jilin.

The 54-year-old was suspended from his post early last month for "seriously violating discipline", and his removal is being processed, the report said, citing the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.