ZHU XIAOHUA, former chairman of the China Everbright Group Co., has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and dismissed from all posts for “absolutely vile” financial crimes, including taking bribes.Party investigators found Zhu “took huge bribes” worth several million Hong Kong dollars.Zhu also violated lending rules to approve loans worth hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars.He vanished from public view in mid-1999 after he was removed as chairman of the Everbright Group, which controls China’s sixth-largest commercial bank.Zhu, one of several high-profile officials to be snared in a campaign against financial crime, would also face criminal charges, Xinhua News Agency said.

　　As a senior leader, Zhu took huge amounts of bribes, neglected his duty and incurred big losses for the State and the enterprise,” Xinhua said, quoting the decision by Party disciplinary authorities to expel Zhu.“His mistake was serious and the way in which the crime was committed was absolutely vile,” Xinhua quoted.A graduate of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Zhu worked for more than a decade at the People’s Bank of China, the central bank.After stints with the International Monetary Fund and Xinhua, Zhu became chief foreign exchange regulator until 1996, when he took charge of various Everbright operations.(SD-Agencies)