Ex-chairman of China Everbright Group expelled from Chinese Communist Party

The former chief of one of China’s most influential state-run enterprises has been kicked out of the Chinese Communist Party, according to state-run media.

Another former top business leader in China has been kicked out of the Chinese Communist Party, showing how a crackdown on the country’s financial sector is continuing into the new year. Tang Shuangning, the ex-chairman and party chief of the China Everbright Group, has been expelled over “serious violations of disciplines and laws,” the country’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Supervisory Commission jointly announced in a statement Saturday. The CCDI, which serves as China’s top anti-corruption watchdog, said an investigation had found that Tang had “abandoned his duties,” failed to act in diffusing financial risks and took bribes. He illegally accepted funds and gifts, such as valuable calligraphy and paintings, and took advantage of his position to “seek profits” from people he helped to get job promotions, according to the statement. Tang even illegally accepted huge amounts of property and “butler-style services,” the agencies said. He also brought books into China deemed to have “serious political issues,” the authorities said. China Everbright Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.