BEIJING, July 31 -- A former high-ranking official of northwest China's Qinghai Province is being probed by the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) for suspected bribe-taking, a statement from the SPP said Thursday.

The SPP has decided to investigate Mao Xiaobing, a former member of the standing committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Qinghai Provincial Committee.

Mao was also former Party chief of Xining, capital city of Qinghai.

Mao had been expelled from the CPC and dismissed from public office for graft probe by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in mid-July.