Tobacco chief fired for graft

GUANGZHOU - A local tobacco authority chief has been removed from his post and expelled from the Party for rampant corruption, in a case that has also exposed China's tobacco monopoly's huge profits, officials said on Tuesday.

The Guangdong provincial disciplinary watchdog for the Communist Party of China has ordered Chen Wenzhu, head of the local branch of the tobacco monopoly in the southern city of Shanwei, to be expelled after investigations confirmed graft allegations against him, Lin Jianhua, a spokesman for the Shanwei tobacco monopoly, told Xinhua.

Lin said Chen has also been removed from the monopoly's top post, pending legal procedure.