CHENGDU - The former Party chief of a quake-hit city in Southwest China's Sichuan province has been arrested on corruption charges, according to a Saturday statement from the provincial people's procuratorate.

The procuratorate issued the arrest warrant for Xu Mengjia after investigations showed he helped businessmen obtain unlawful benefits in projects by taking advantage of his post in Ya'an City and took bribes from them, said the statement.

Xu worked in Ya'an from June 2006 to mid-November last year when he was removed from the post.

A 7.0-magnitude quake jolted the city in April last year, leaving 196 dead and thousands injured.