The founder of a famous Chinese vocational school is under official investigation for violating family planning rules, local authorities said on Wednesday.

The 50-year-old Rong Lanxiang, founder and president of Jinan-based Shandong Lanxiang Senior Technical School, is said to have six children, according to his wife Kong Suying. She revealed this information to the media last month. The revelation has sparked heated debates online as Rong is also a deputy of the National People's Congress.

"An investigation group has been founded by the health and family planning authorities at Tianqiao District of Jinan," Zhang Hua, deputy director of the publicity office of Tianqiao District, said on Wednesday. Rong's household has been at Tianqiao District of Jinan since May, 2004.

The group has contacted Rong and will meet with him soon to investigate the situation. The group needs to find out information regarding the names of Rong's children, their birth dates and which households they are registered under.

"The group will also check the children's information with Kong after talking to Rong," Zhang said.

Rong has been under the spotlight after his school's students went head-to-head against Kong and his father-in-law a month ago. He is also involved in a series of scandals caused by his wife.

With the help of Kong, Rong, then a farmer from Henan province, founded the school in 1984. The school which offers training courses in technical fields such as auto repair, engineering and cooking saw fast development in past years. It has trained around 400,000 students, most of them from rural areas.