Party meeting expels former senior officials

The fifth plenary session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China endorsed prior decisions on Thursday to revoke the membership of 10 former officials, including Ling Jihua.

A former vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee and head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, Ling was found to have seriously violated the political discipline and rules of the CPC, taken advantage of his posts to seek profits for others, and accepted huge bribes.

Others on the expulsion list were Zhou Benshun, Yang Dongliang, Zhu Mingguo, Wang Min, Chen Chuanping, Qiu He, Yang Weize, Pan Yiyang and Yu Yuanhui. Their violations include abuse of power, bribery, embezzling public funds, and leaking State secrets, according to previous statements from the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the top anti-graft body.

Previous decisions to strip them of their membership were made by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

All the former senior officials were felled after graft-busters announced investigations into them amid China's most sweeping anti-corruption campaign, which targeted all levels of officials, with no exceptions.

Meanwhile, three new members filled vacancies on the CPC Central Committee on Thursday after former members were expelled from the Party. The three new members are Liu Xiaokai, Chen Zhirong and Jin Zhenji, according to a statement released after the plenary session of the CPC Central Committee.

Liu is head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee, while Chen and Jin head the political and legal affairs commissions of the CPC Hainan and Jilin provincial committees respectively.