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China's Bo Xilai expelled and accused of corruption | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Top Chinese politician Bo Xilai has been expelled from the Communist Party and will face justice, state media have said. | |
Mr Bo, the ex-Communist Party leader in the city of Chongqing, is accused of abuse of power and corruption. | |
His wife, Gu Kailai, was given a suspended death sentence in August for killing UK national Neil Heywood. | |
Mr Bo has not been seen in public since shortly after the scandal erupted and was said to be under investigation. | |
He was suspended from his party posts in April. | |
'Grave repercussions' | |
The state news agency, Xinhua, said Mr Bo stood accused of corruption, abuse of power, bribe-taking and improper relations with women. | |
A statement carried by Xinhua said Mr Bo "committed serious errors and bears a major responsibility". | |
It added: "Bo Xilai's actions created grave repercussions, and massively damaged the reputation of the party and the state." | |
Xinhua said the violations included Mr Bo's time as an official in Dalian and Liaoning provinces, and as minister of commerce. | |
Xinhua said Mr Bo has been expelled from the party and the elite decision-making Politburo and Central Committee "in view of his errors and culpability in the Wang Lijun incident and the intentional homicide case involving [Gu Kailai]". | |
Wang Lijun was Chongqing's former police chief who was sentenced to 15 years in jail for ''bending the law, defection, abuse of power and bribetaking" in the Neil Heywood case. | |
Xinhua also announced that the party congress, which will herald a once-in-a-decade change of China's leadership, will begin on 8 November. | |
The Bo Xilai scandal has been China's biggest in decades and has overshadowed the run-up to the congress, which is expected to see Xi Jinping replace Hu Jintao as president. |