Ex-minister expelled from Party, dismissed from post

Xiao Yaqing, former minister of industry and information technology, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and stripped of his post in public office due to violations of Party discipline and national laws, the country's top anti-graft watchdogs said on Monday.

Xiao has also been demoted to a lower rank in public office and asked to retire, said a statement issued by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.

It said that Xiao abandoned his original aspiration and mission, lost his Party consciousness and principles and ignored the spirit of the eight-point decision on improving Party and government conduct.

He attended banquets that may have affected the fair performance of his duties and he accepted large amounts of money from others, it said.

Xiao's behavior seriously violated the Party's political discipline, organizational discipline and integrity discipline and he committed a violation of duty, which should be penalized severely, the statement said.

He truthfully confessed his violations and refunded all of his illegal gains, and the authorities gave him a lenient punishment, according to the statement.

Xiao, 63, a native of Hebei province, joined the Party in 1981 and began working in 1982. He served as the head of the State Administration for Market Regulation from May 2019 to July 2020 and became the minister of industry and information technology in August 2020.

He was placed under investigation and discipline review by the CCDI and the NSC in July 2022. He was removed from his post as secretary of the Leading Party Members Group of the ministry in July and dismissed from his ministerial post in September.