Former senior political adviser expelled, dismissed for legal violations

Gou Zhongwen, a former senior political adviser and former sports minister, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and dismissed from public office over serious violations of disciplines and laws, according to a decision announced by the country's top anti-corruption watchdog.

The announcement was disclosed by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision online on Thursday after they closed the investigation.

Gou, a former member of the Standing Committee of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was found to have not fully implemented the central leadership's policies and seriously damaged the political environment of the sports system.

Also, as the former deputy head of the Committee on Ethnic and Religious Affairs of the CPPCC National Committee, Gou had lost political stance and improperly accepted gifts, banquets and travel invitations.

While taking advantage of his positions to help family members in business, Gou had also engaged in power-sex and power-money trades and accepted huge amounts of money after seeking benefits for others in business operation and job adjustment.

In addition, he was discovered to have illegally performed his duties in the construction or acquisition of sports projects and retained confidential documents without permission.

He also made arbitrary decisions and abused his power, causing large sums of economic loss.

"Gou has seriously violated the Party's disciplines and has been suspected of bribery and abusing of power, so we've decided to remove him from the Party and public office," the commission said.

They noted that they have also confiscated Gou's illicit gains, adding that his suspected violations of the national laws will be transferred to prosecutors for further investigation.

Gou, 67, a native of Gansu province, started his career in 1974 and joined the Party in 1976. He previously served as vice-mayor of Beijing, and was the head of the General Administration of Sport of China from 2016 until July 2022.

During his term at the administration, he also served as executive chairman of the Organizing Committee for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

Before he was placed under the disciplinary and supervisory investigation in May, Gou worked for the Standing Committee of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC.