Ex-Gansu Party chief expelled from CPC

Wang Sanyun, former Party chief of the Gansu Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and a former senior national legislator, has been expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office for bribery, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the country's top watchdog, said on Friday.

Wang seriously violated political discipline and responded passively or resisted the Party's major policies and decisions, the watchdog said. Further, it said, he was derelict in his duty, lost his political conviction and engaged in "superstitious activities".

The CCDI said in a statement that Wang had also violated Party rules on building a clean government and often entered private clubs; and he was found to have abused power on behalf of others for job promotions and project bidding. He also accepted large bribes, it said, and allowed certain people to serve in official posts regardless of their own violations of Party discipline.

According to his resume, Wang served as deputy secretary of the Guizhou, Sichuan, Anhui and Fujian Party committees before being promoted to Party chief in Gansu.

In a three-episode anti-corruption documentary aired earlier this month on China Central Television, Wang expressed regret for his actions. He told anti-graft officials during the episode that, while serving as the Party chief in Gansu, he was devoted to accumulating money for his retirement.

The episode alleged that he abused power by steering engineering work to his relatives, and used his authority to benefit many company bosses who paid bribes of cash, real estate, expensive jade, calligraphy and paintings.

When a team from the central government inspected Gansu in November 2016, Wang asked his relatives to conceal and transfer his illicit assets in fear that his crimes would be exposed, the statement said, adding that he also forged a house trading contract and pretended that bribes were loans.

According to the CCDI, his qualification as a member of the 18th CPC Central Committee was revoked, and information collected will be transferred to judicial authorities for further investigation.

The decision to expel Wang from the Party will be officially approved at the next plenary meeting of the Central Committee, the watchdog said.

The CCDI began investigating Wang in July. He was removed from his legislative post on Sept 1.

Since November 2012, when the country's new leadership was elected, more than 160 high-ranking officials at provincial and ministerial levels or above have been subject to graft investigations.

Xinhua contributed to this story.