Two disgraced senior Chinese officials -- Zheng Xiaoyu and Qiu Xiaohua were stripped of their membership as the country's political advisors before the top advisory body's annual full session which is slated to open on March 3.

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The Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) passed the dismissal decision on Wednesday.

Known as the government's "think tank", CPPCC members are activists, experts, scholars and public figures from various walks of life, .

The main function of the CPPCC is to conduct political consultations, exercise democratic supervision and discuss the handling of state affairs.

Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of the State Food and Drugs Administration, was investigated for allegedly abusing his position and taking bribes in exchange for ignoring drug approval regulations.

Qiu Xiaohua, former director of the National Bureau of Statistics, was earlier sacked and expelled from the Chinese Communist Party.

Qiu, who was accused of bribe-taking and polygamy, is currently in custody.

Qiu was among a handful of high ranking officials that fell amid China's strong anti-graft campaign last year, which also brought down Shanghai's former Party chief Chen Liangyu, the highest ranking Communist official busted in a corruption probe in a decade.

NPC dismisses two deputies over graft

A former provincial-rank official and a well-connected businessman were expelled from China's national parliament on Wednesday over alleged involvement in corruption.

After the dismissal, the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) has 2,978 members.

At the closing of a regular session that began on February 26, the NPC Standing Committee voted to strip Liu Weiming, 68, a provincial-rank official of Guangdong Province, and Deng Zhonghua, 49, president of Hunan Chendian International Development Co., Ltd, of their NPC memberships.

Liu was dismissed for "seriously violating discipline", according to the decision made earlier by the provincial people's congress in Guangdong.

Previous media reports said Liu had been involved in economic crimes. He had been expelled from the Communist Party of China.

Liu served as vice governor of the economic boom province of Guangdong from 1988 to 1998 and vice chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from 1998 to 2003.

In a separate case, Deng was suspected of taking and offering huge bribes after being investigated by anti-corruption authorities in central Hunan Province. The former vice president of the Hunan company, Liu Xiaowen, had been arrested for bribery.

Deng was appointed president of Hunan Chendian International Development Co., Ltd. in March 2004.