By Li Hongmei

A businesswoman ranked as one of the 50 wealthiest in China has been removed from a senior political organization, with media on Friday pointing to her links to some former high-ranking officials facing graft allegations.

Liu Yingxia, who was listed as China's 46th richest woman with assets of four billion yuan (US$660 million) by wealth publisher the Hurun Report last year, was removed as a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the Xinhua news agency reported late Thursday, but gave no reason for her banishment.

Liu, born in 1972, founded a company in the northeastern city of Harbin at the age of 20 that now operates in the property and road construction sectors, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported Friday.

In 2012, a fund of hers invested in a 110-billion-yuan oil pipeline project with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and two other state-run organizations, the newspaper said.

Jiang Jiemin, CNPC's then-chairman, attended the signing ceremony for the deal, it added.

It was reportedly the first time that a private firm had been allowed to take part in oil pipeline construction in China.

The Party's discipline watchdog announced in September that Jiang was under investigation for "suspected severe violation of discipline."