2 former vice-chairmen expelled for corruption

Two former vice-ministerial officials have been expelled from the Communist Party of China for serious discipline violations, and their cases have been transferred to prosecuting authorities for graft charges, as the country continues its fight against corruption.

The two officials are Jin Suidong, former vice-chairman of the Henan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference — the local political advisory body — and Li Shixiang, former vicechairman of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPPCC, said the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in two statements on Sunday.

Jin, once Party chief of Anyang city, is the fifth high-ranking officials to fall from grace in Henan since 2012. His former colleagues in Anyang — Zhang Xiaodong and Dong Yong’an — have been sentenced to life in prison for graft.

Li, who served as executive deputy mayor of Beijing before moving to the CPPCC, is the second high-ranking official from the capital to have fallen, following former deputy Party chief of Beijing Lyu Xiwen in 2015.

Both Jin and Li have lost their faith and abused their powers for personal gains, and were found to have accepted bribes, hid key personal information and conducted other illegal acts while in office, according to CCDI statements. Therefore, both officials have been expelled from the Party, and their suspected crimes and illicit gains have been transferred to the procuratorate for review and prosecution.

Jin is known as an official willing to be corrupted by external influences, the statement said. Apart from being morally bankrupt by having illicit sexual relations, he also took money from others in the promotion and appointment of cadres, tried obstructing investigations into his violations and crimes, and sold his calligraphy at high prices.

Li took advantage of the politics-business relation to earn massive profits, took bribes and abused his power to promote and appoint cadres to benefit others. He even conducted superstitious activities to advance his political career, according to the CCDI.

Born in 1954, Jin was appointed vice-chairman of the Henan Provincial Committee of the CPPCC in 2008. He left the post in 2017, and was placed under investigation in September last year.

Li, born in 1958, had spent his entire political career in Beijing, reaching the position of vicechairman of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPPCC in January 2017. He left the post a year later and was placed under investigation in September last year.