Sacked former top statistician Qiu Xiaohua expelled from Party

China's former head of National Bureau of Statistics Qiu Xiaohua, who was sacked last October for suspected involvement in a social security fund fraud, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC), according to China's anti-corruption watchdog.

With the approval of the State Council, Qiu had also been dismissed from all administrative posts, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced on Jan. 23.

The commission said that Qiu had taken bribes from enterprise owners, led a dissolute life and committed the crime of bigamy when he served as a leader of the NBS.

"As a senior cadre, Qiu ignored the Party spirit and related laws. His wrongdoing has caused a vile social and political impact. He must be seriously punished," the commission said.

It also proposed expelling Qiu from the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Qiu had been handed over to the judicial authorities to face criminal charges, the commission said.

Qiu was sacked on Oct. 12 of last year, only seven months after he took the post of NBS director. He was suspected to be involved in the 10 billion-yuan (1.25 billion U.S. dollars) Shanghai social security fund fraud.

Qiu, born in 1958, was a native of east China's Fujian province. He graduated from the department of Economics of Xiamen University in Fujian in 1982 and joined NBS since then.

He served as chief economist and NBS spokesman between 1993 and 1998 before he was appointed deputy director in 1999.

Source: Xinhua