Jan. 25, 2007 (China Knowledge) – The mayor and party chief of Shanghai, Han Zheng, said at a finance and taxation conference that "lawless people" and entrepreneurs like Zhou Zhengyi shall be punished severely, the city's official news portal website reported.

Zhou, a Shanghai real estate tycoon, was arrested this week on charges of bribery and forging tax receipts.

Prosecutors had found evidence linking him to the pension fund scandal. Zhou, former president of Shanghai-based property firm Nongkai Development Group, was released from prison in May last year after completing a three-year sentence for fraud and manipulating the stock market.

China's anti-corruption drive has seen thousands of arrests since 2003, and led to the sacking of Shanghai Communist Party secretary Chen Liangyu in September, who was ousted on charges including the possible misuse of money from government pension funds to invest in real estate and other projects. Current mayor and party chief Han Zheng was appointed as acting Party Chief of Shanghai in September last year.