BEIJING - Chinese authorities have decided to remove a senior official in charge of public petitions from public office for suspected serious disciplinary violations.

Xu Jie, deputy chief of the State Bureau for Letters and Calls, will be dismissed from his post, an official with the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee confirmed on Thursday.

According to the official, the case is being handled according to relevant procedures.

The news came after the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced earlier on Thursday that Xu was under investigation.