A senior Party official from Anyang city in Central China's Henan province is suspected of having gone abroad to escape his corruption investigation.

Authoritative sources from Henan province said that Li Weimin, deputy Party chief of Anyang, has fled.

A report on the official website of Anyang city government, www.aynews.net.cn, said that Li, 53, was suspected of committing duty offences. He has been expelled from the Party and dismissed from his position.

The local procuratorial department has started an investigation into Li's case, the report said.

The report, however, did not reveal where Li, who has been missing for more than three months, is now residing.

A report by China News Service said Li vanished from a hotel in Shijiazhuang, capital of North China's Hebei province, on his way back to Anyang from a trip to Beijing in May.

He was in Beijing to attend the funeral of Fang Xiaoyu, former executive deputy governor of Hainan province, on May 19. Fang worked in Anyang from 1993 to 2003 and was Anyang's Party chief for two years.

On the way back, Li and his driver checked into a hotel in Shijiazhuang, but Li left his hotel room without informing his driver.

Sources close to the case said Li might have been involved in a series of corruption cases in Sanmenxia, another city in Henan province, in previous years.