GUANGZHOU - A senior official in South China's Guangdong province has been removed from his post for violating Party discipline, the provincial anti-graft watchdog said Monday.

Xie Pengfei, 61, was removed from his posts as deputy secretary-general of the Guangdong provincial government and head of the local government's development research center as a result of serious violations of law and discipline, the provincial discipline inspection committee said in a press release.

It said Xie has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC)?and is being probed for suspected corruption. His case had been handed over to local judicial authorities.

Xie, a native of South China's Hainan province, was born in October 1950.