(Bloomberg) -- Chinese authorities accused the former Communist Party chief of Hangzhou of accepting “huge” bribes, escalating a corruption probe in the affluent eastern city where Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. are headquartered. 

The government will prosecute Zhou Jiangyong on allegations of bribery, according to a statement on the top prosecutor’s website that didn’t identify any companies. But the broader investigation into Zhou, who was arrested in February, has been linked to Ma’s fintech behemoth Ant. 

Beijing began a sweeping crackdown on the private sector in late 2020 by forcing Ant to pull the plug on what would have been the world’s largest initial public offering. That scrutiny has since expanded to almost every sector of the internet, from e-commerce to social media, and ensnared many of the country’s largest companies, including Alibaba.

Earlier this year, Zhou appeared in a state media documentary that claimed the former party secretary used his influence in the Chinese tech hub to help his younger brother’s businesses. One of those companies had received investment from a firm controlled by Ant, according to a local media report in August.

Zhou used his position and “illegally accepted gifts of an especially large volume,” the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said in the brief notice without elaborating. The country’s powerful corruption-busting agency, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, posted an identical statement online.

Xi Jinping’s administration has pursued an unprecedented campaign to root out graft within the Party, regarded by observers as a means to legitimize his government while tamping down internal dissent. 

In February, the city’s Party branch issued a statement about how it plans to move beyond Zhou’s arrest, and how it plans to navigate complex relationships between public officials and private companies. The city’s leading cadres had gathered on Feb. 15 for what was described as a “warning” conference to explain how to support the party’s priorities while avoiding corruption. 

The Hangzhou party pressed for improved reporting of personal matters and better reporting of business relationships.

Government officials should formulate “a positive and negative list” in establishing their relations with businesses, according to a statement about the conference on the website of China’s anti-corruption watchdog Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Officials should establish “clean but not distant” relations with private businesses to “support and guide standardized and healthy development of capital.”

Apart from Ant and Alibaba, a number of other major Chinese tech companies call Hangzhou home.

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