The Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department under China's powerful Central Military Commission, General Wang Jianping, has been arrested over corruption.

On Thursday, Wang, 62, was escorted by officials from Chengdu, Sichuan province. His wife and secretary were reportedly also taken into custody.

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"Wang was arrested by military prosecutors in Chengdu while on an inspection trip. His wife and secretary were taken away in Beijing on Thursday," a source stated.

President Xi Jinping set out to fight corruption in the Chinese government upon assuming office in 2013.

Wang spent the early years of his career in the armed police unit. He was later promoted in 2009 to become the commander of the People's Armed Police.  Wang and his superior General Xu Yaoyuan reported directly to the then chief, Zhou YongKang.

Zhou was arrested and sentenced to life in jail in June last year after he was found guilty of graft. He was the first high-ranking military official in China to have received such a verdict since the Cultural Revolution.

In a move that raised a lot of questions, Wang was transferred to the former headquarters as a deputy chief and Xu became the commissioner of the Academy of Military Sciences' political in 2014.

"The key reason behind such an arrangement is to separate them from their power base in the PAP," another source said. "It was because they were accomplices of Zhou YongKang and other big tigers like Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou."

Wang was later replaced by his deputy chief of staff General Wang Ning.

Tagschina, Chinese President Xi jinping, China military