By staff reporters Wang Heyan and Qin Xudong

Liu Wei, the deputy director of the Foreign Company Registration Office at the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), was detained October 27 for corruption. 40-year-old Liu is the latest high-level official taken it for suspicious dealings with foreign investment.

Caijing learned that Liu’s case surfaced after the detention of Guo Jingyi, an official at the department of Treaty and Law of China's Ministry of Commerce, and Deng Zhan, the former deputy administrator of the Department of Foreign Investment at the Ministry of Commerce.

Guo and Zhan were detained by the Communist Party’s disciplinary agency in August and September on alleged bribery in a foreign investment project. Two lawyers were also involved in the case.

Another official at the department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce was reported to have been detained last week.

A source close to Liu Wei said Liu discussed Guo’s case not long before his own detention. At the time he didn’t seem particularly concerned.

Liu’s work at SAIC involved supervising and drafting rules for foreign company registration as well as managing those companies’ information.

His work put him close to Guo Jingyi and Deng Zhan, who were played a role in the approval procedure for foreign acquisition deals in China.

Sources familiar with Liu told Caijing that Liu has good private relationships with Guo Jingyi and Deng Zhan.