1st LD Writethru: Zhu Mingguo expelled from Party, office

Zhu Mingguo, former head of the political advisory body in south China's Guangdong Province has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public office following an internal graft investigation.

The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) announced on Tuesday that it found Zhu took advantage of his post to seek profits for others and accepted huge bribes in return for favor in selecting officials and regulating enterprises.

The former chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was also found to have "seriously violated the family planning policy," according to the CCDI.

He is suspected of crimes including bribery, and his case will now be subject to a criminal investigation, it said in a statement.

"As a senior Party official, Zhu defied the Party's political rules and organizational discipline, seriously violated CPC discipline and the law," said the statement, adding that his "vile" wrongdoings continued after the 18th Party Congress in late 2012.

"The nature [of the case] is bad and circumstances are grave," it said.

As Zhu is among the 171 alternate members of the 18th CPC Central Committee, his expulsion from the Party will be further endorsed by a future plenum of the CPC Central Committee.

The graft investigation into Zhu, a member of the Li ethnic minority, has been running since November and he was disqualified as a member of the CPPCC National Committee in December. Endi