Lei Zhengfu: China sacks 'sex tape' Chongqing official

Mr Lei's sacking was one of the most popular subjects on China's microblog sites

A district Communist Party official in south-west China has been sacked after apparently featuring in a sex video exposed by microbloggers.

Screenshots purporting to be from video of Lei Zhengfu having sex with his mistress, were published on Tuesday.

Mr Lei, a party chief in the city of Chongqing, is reported to have said that the video is a fake.

The case highlights the growing influence of China's microbloggers in pursuing local officials.

Correspondents say that the Communist Party has stepped up its drive against corruption and official impropriety amid rising public anger at abuses of power.

It is unclear who made the video and how it emerged. A Chinese journalist, named as Ji Xuguang, posted the images on Tuesday.

He said that the video was made in 2007 and identified Mr Lei as the man in the photos having "improper sexual relations" with an 18-year-old "mistress" .

Mr Lei was sacked after an investigation by local party officials concluded that the man in the pictures was indeed him.

A statement on Friday said a further investigation into Mr Lei would take place.

The sacking was one of the most popular subjects on weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging site.

In September, a safety official in Shaanxi province was sacked following a public outcry after images of him grinning at the scene of a fatal bus crash were posted online.

Outrage grew when Chinese "netizens" found images of him wearing luxury watches.