BEIJING -- Chen Shulong, former vice governor of East China's Anhui province, is under investigation on suspicion of taking bribes, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) announced Wednesday.

Chen, also a former member of the standing committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Anhui provincial committee, has been placed under "coercive measures," and further investigation is underway, the SPP said in a statement.

Coercive measures may include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention and arrest.

Chen has been expelled from the CPC and dismissed from public office for actions including "superstitious activities," trading power for sex and accepting bribes, the CPC's discipline agency announced earlier this month.