(Yicai) Oct. 15 -- Eight Chinese officials working in the aviation sector have been investigated for unlawful practices so far this year as the country ramps up its anti-corruption drive, according to Yicai research.

Ma Yilei, deputy secretary-general of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Party Committee, is being probed for serious disciplinary and legal violations and has voluntarily surrendered himself to the police, according to the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.

Ma previously served as the chairman of Xinjiang Airport Group. The former deputy general manager of Xinjiang Airport, Yao Xinmin, was put under investigation in August.

Li Ming, former deputy general manager of the Guangdong Airport Authority, has been found to have received gifts and cash in violation of regulations, to hold shares in non-listed companies and to have illegally accepted huge amounts of money and valuables, Guangdong province said today. These actions constitute a serious dereliction of duty and amount to bribery.

And the central regulator said on Oct. 9 that it suspected Zhang Rui, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s airport department, of serious disciplinary violations and illegal activities.

The marketing departments of airlines are also coming under scrutiny.

On Oct. 13, the regulator of Linzhi city in the Tibet Autonomous Region said that Qiao Junfeng, GM of the network revenue department of Tibet Airlines’ marketing committee, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is being probed. It follows three supervisory notices being released by the regulator in January, two of which were connected to the marketing department of Tibet Airlines.

Wang Yirui, GM of the human resources department of Tibet Airlines, was also investigated for alleged serious disciplinary violations and illegal activities in October last year. Wang previously served as the head of the Chengdu and Lhasa sales departments of Tibet Airlines.

Earlier this year, Wu Deyun, GM of Sichuan Airlines’ business committee, was taken away. He had previously served as the head of Sichuan Airlines' Xi'an sales department.

Editor: Kim Taylor