Health authorities in Luxi county, Jiangxi province, are investigating Wang Lin, a self-proclaimed qigong master who has a lot of celebrity followers, on suspicion of illegally practicing medicine.

According to the Luxi health bureau, Wang does not have a license to run a medical institution and is not qualified to practice medicine.

A local official confirmed that an investigation team had been formed but was not willing to disclose details on Monday.

Wang, 61, who lives in Pingxiang, Jiangxi, claims he has treated about 50,000 patients using his "special power".

Sima Nan, an academic and researcher known for his disclosure of scientific misconduct in China, said Wang only performs magic tricks. However, he accumulated wealth through supposedly "curing disease".

"It is a kind of fraud," Sima said.

He added that people watch Wang's performances, such as making a snake appear in an empty basin, out of curiosity. They worship Wang blindly because they believe he has supernatural powers and mysterious energy, Sima said.

Wang has been visited by and photographed with many rich people and social celebrities, including film stars Jet Li, Zhao Wei, Li Bingbing and Li Yapeng.

Some government officials, including Liu Zhijun, the dismissed minister of railways, and former health minister Chen Minzhang have received treatment from Wang.

Zhou Xiaozheng, a professor of sociology from Renmin University of China, said: "These celebrities and government officials visiting Wang reflect their inner emptiness and anxiety and their fear of an uncertain future. They flock to Wang to find a kind of spiritual comfort from him."

He said those people had superstitious minds and believed Wang's "supernatural power" could guard them from evil and bring good luck.

Zhou said, "The public should not believe superstitions, but scientific knowledge and conscience".

Wang became famous between the late 1980s and the early 1990s when there was a nationwide craze for qigong. Wang was in the spotlight again recently when Jack Ma, chairman and CEO of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, visited him.

He is the richest man in his hometown, owning a five-story villa with a man-made lake and four luxury cars.

fanfeifei@chinadaily.com.cn