Kang Rixin is being investigated for allegedly squandering public funds and accepting bribes valued at up to 1.8 billion yuan (260 million dollars), the Chongqing Times reported.

Authorities are probing the possibility that Kang took bribes from French nuclear power giant Areva to win a contract for a project in China's southern Guangdong province, said the report, which was posted on numerous government websites.

Kang also allegedly traded on the stock market large amounts of public funds earmarked for the construction of three nuclear power plants, suffering huge losses when the market crashed last year, the report said.

"Recently, the state has greatly expanded the scope of developing nuclear power, a lot of major projects are being started that involve huge investment," the paper said, citing unnamed sources close to the case.

"This is where corruption may have occurred."

The report did not detail how much of the 1.8 billion yuan was lost in the illegal stock transactions or how much was linked to the alleged bribery.

Kang, party secretary and general manager of China National Nuclear Corporation, was being probed for possible involvement in "grave violations of discipline," Xinhua news agency said last week when announcing the investigation.

Chinese authorities often use the term "discipline violations" to mean acts of corruption.

Officials at China National Nuclear Corporation refused comment on the case when contacted by AFP. Areva China did not immediately comment.

In November 2007, Areva announced an agreement to supply China with two third-generation nuclear reactors in a deal worth eight billion euros (11.9 billion dollars at the time).

China's President Hu Jintao has repeatedly warned that corruption is one of the greatest threats to the legitimacy of Communist Party rule and courts often hand down harsh sentences to make an example of offenders.

In the latest demonstration that the Party takes the problem seriously, the former head of the company that owns Beijing Capital International Airport was executed Friday, after being convicted of bribery and embezzlement totalling nearly 16 million dollars.

Li Peiying, former chairman and general manager of Capital Airports Holding Company (CAH), was put to death in the eastern city of Jinan, Xinhua said.

Li, 60, was convicted in February of accepting bribes totalling 26.61 million yuan and embezzling 82.5 million yuan while in his post from 1995 to 2003.

CAH, which falls under the Civil Aviation Administration of China, has more than 30 airports, manages assets in excess of 100 billion yuan and has over 38,000 staff.

According to Willy Lam, a China expert at Chinese University of Hong Kong, the investigations and trials are part of an anti-corruption campaign ahead of a major Communist Party meeting in September where fighting graft will be a theme.

"This also comes ahead of the 60th anniversary (of the People's Republic of China), where the party will want to show how glorious it is, but at the same time let the people know that they are aware of imperfections and are rooting out bad apples," Lam told AFP.

Massive corruption has emerged as one of the greatest scourges attending China's economic resurgence in the past three decades.

The former head of oil giant Sinopec, Chen Tonghai, was handed a suspended death sentence in July after being found guilty of corrupt practices.

The mayor of the southern boom town of Shenzhen, Xu Zongheng, has been under investigation for corruption since his removal from office in June.

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