Bo Xilai's political career over after expulsion from elite Central Committee

China's Communist Party decides to expel the former leadership contender, citing a decision likely to disclose details of a scandal that has shaken a looming leadership succession.

BEIJING // China's Communist Party decided to expel the former leadership contender Bo Xilai from the elite Central Committee, sources said yesterday, citing a decision likely to disclose details of a scandal that has shaken a looming leadership succession.

The four sources, who all requested anonymity, said the ruling party made the decision after investigating Mr Bo, the former party chief of Chongqing municipality in south-west China, over a scandal that emerged after his vice mayor, Wang Lijun, fled into a US consulate for 24 hours in February.

Mr Wang's flight triggered a series of revelations, including questions about the death of a British businessman close to Mr Bo's family, and Mr Bo was dismissed as Chongqing party chief in mid-March. The party settles on a new top leadership late this year, and Mr Bo had been widely seen as campaigning for a post in it.

Mr Bo has been removed from the Central Committee, a council of some 200 senior officials who meet about once a year, and from the Politburo, a more powerful body of about two dozen Central Committee members, said the sources.

The decision effectively ends Mr Bo's political career.