'House uncle' had 132 properties

A former village head who accumulated 132 residential properties in Shanghai is the latest so-called house uncle to be identified in an anti-corruption crackdown.

The nickname was coined by netizens for male officials with multiple properties.

The 60-year-old man, whose surname was given as Li, was previously Communist Party secretary of a village near Wenzhou and worked lately in the steel and construction material industries, Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday. The village was not named.

Li's holdings came to light when another individual sued him for failing to repay borrowed money, according to a government-backed news portal, Zhejiang Online, which first reported the case.

The properties, described as small apartments in Songjiang, a western suburb of Shanghai, were mortgaged for more than 70 million yuan ($11.5 million) when they were found and seized by the court, reports said.

Shanghai has one of China's most active property markets, with new home prices at about 32,140 yuan per square meter, making it the country's second-most expensive city behind Beijing.

The Cangnan county court in Zhejiang, which heard the case, could not be reached for comment. Reports did not say whether Li would face charges over the properties.

Investors from Wenzhou - known as a center of private enterprise - have been blamed in the past for driving up property prices across China, with buyers acquiring all the units of entire buildings.

In August, China published a draft of long-awaited property registration rules, a move expected to curtail corruption by preventing officials from hiding their assets.

President Xi Jinping launched a much-publicized drive against graft after he came to power in late 2012.

In one high-profile case last year, Gong Aiai, vice-president of a bank in Shaanxi province and a delegate to the local legislature, was sentenced to three years in prison after she was found to have purchased more than 40 properties under multiple identities.

Social media users came up with the nickname "house sister" in reference to female officials with lots of properties.