A former vice-president of one of China's biggest banks has been expelled by the Communist party and stripped of his public offices for corruption, state-run media said Monday.

Yang Kun, who was vice-president of the Agricultural Bank of China, "exploited his position to seek benefits for other people in return for huge bribes", the official Xinhua news agency said.

It cited an investigation by the ruling party's internal disciplinary body, which was not available to AFP.

Yang is the highest-ranking bank executive to be investigated for corruption since China's "big four" state-run banks, which include the Agricultural Bank, held stockmarket flotations, Chinese media company Caixin reported.

The Agricultural Bank was the last of the big four banks to go public, with an offering in 2010.

Yang's case has been handed over to "judicial authorities", Xinhua said, suggesting that a criminal trial will follow.

China's newly-appointed president Xi Jinping has vowed to crack down on corruption at all levels of the government, calling graft a threat to the future of the ruling party.

But critics have said that a significant effort to reduce corruption would require a increased transparency from the ultra-secretive party, as well as a loosening of controls on the media and courts.

Appointments at China's big four banks are controlled by the ruling Communist party, which strictly controls finance in the country.