Shan Ping, former president of Tianjin University in north China, was expelled from the National People's Congress (NPC) on Friday for financial misconduct.

Before closing a five-day legislative session, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, adopted a resolution to dismiss Shan from his NPC deputy post.

Shan, 60, entrusted a Shenzhen-based stockbroker 100 million yuan (US$12.5 million), which was embezzled from the university from September 2000 to August 2001 when he served as university president, to invest in stock market, without the university leadership's group discussion and without the approval by relevant departments.

Shan's actions resulted in heavy losses of more than 37.5 million yuan (US$4.8 million).

China's anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, was said to be investigating Shan, but the document gave no further details.

Shan, a native of Liaoning Province, was born in May 1946. He is a professor and supervisor of Ph.D candidates and acted as the president of Tianjin University from June 1997 to July 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2006)