BEIJING: Disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai has been formally expelled from the ruling Communist Party, state media said on Sunday, in a decision made at a meeting of top party officials that ended just days ahead of a broader once-a-decade power handover.

The ouster, which clears the way for Bo to face criminal trial, came at a gathering of 500 top party officials that wrapped up in Beijing. The ten-yearly leadership transition, scheduled for a party congress that opens on Thursday, had been dogged by the Bo scandal.

The party’s Central Committee “endorsed a decision by the Political Bureau ... to expel Bo Xilai”, Xinhua news agency said — referring to the party’s top 25-member policy-making body — adding it had taken the decision last month.

The months-long controversy surrounding Bo had exposed deep divisions in the top leadership, as he had influential patrons and a following among left-leaning members, ahead of the sensitive power transition.

The former party boss in the central mega-city of Chongqing was once seen as a candidate for promotion to the party’s top echelons but was brought down earlier this year by murder allegations against his wife that came to light after his police chief sought refuge in a US consulate.

Gu Kailai, Bo’s wife, was later given a suspended death sentence — a judgment commonly commuted to a life sentence — for fatally poisoning British businessman Neil Heywood.—AFP