Former Everbright chairman expelled from Party

Li Xiaopeng, former chairman of China Everbright Group Ltd, a State-owned financial conglomerate, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and removed from his post, the country's top anti-corruption watchdogs said.

The punishment was announced in an official statement posted by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision on Monday.

Li was placed under investigation for allegedly seriously violating Party disciplines and laws in April.

The commissions said in the statement that they found Li had betrayed his ideals and beliefs, resisted investigations into his violations, illegally accepted gifts and money and broke Party rules to attend banquets.

Li also illegally borrowed money from enterprises and people that the group managed or served, and he held shares of non-listed companies, the commissions alleged.

In addition, he allegedly took advantage of his posts to seek benefits for others in mortgage financing and project contracting, and then accepted massive amounts of money in return, according to the commissions.

"Li's behavior is a severe violation of Party rules, so we made the decision to remove him from the Party and public office, with confiscation of his illicit gains," the commissions said.

Because some of his alleged actions are considered crimes, the commissions added that they will hand over the case to prosecutors for further review.

Public information shows that Li, 64, graduated from finance school at Wuhan University. He worked for China's bank and financial system for a couple of years, serving multiple posts in this field. He became Party chief and chairman of the Everbright Group in 2017.