The suspended officer, Admiral Miao Hua, served on the ruling Central Military Commission, China's highest-level military command body, and was stationed in the coastal province of Fujian when President Xi Jinping worked there as a local official, according to his official biography.

Miao is director of the Central Military Commission’s political work department, which oversees party ideology and personnel changes.

The confirmation of an investigation into Miao Hua and his suspension marks the latest chapter in a growing corruption scandal engulfing China's military elites.