China expelled 29 members linked to power corruption from its top legislature and political advisory body over the past five years and in one case a corrupt official was executed after trial.

A total of 22 deputies of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) and seven members of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) have been stripped of their membership as law makers and political consultants since 2003, for their link to bribes, abuse of power, and sex scandals.

Nearly half, or 14 of the 29 former lawmakers and advisors had taken up ministerial-level posts in the government, including former Shanghai Party head and Politburo member Chen Liangyu, who was involved in a social security fund scandal.

Chen was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and was dismissed from all government posts. He is awaiting trial.

Also among those expelled are former director of the National Bureau of Statistics Qiu Xiaohua, and former food and drug administration head Zheng Xiaoyu.

Zheng was executed on July 10, 2007 for taking 6.49 million yuan (about 889,000 U.S. dollars) in bribes, and for dereliction of duty. Qiu was removed from his government post and faces criminal investigation over allegations of bribery and bigamy.

The 10th NPC and CPPCC will end their term of duty next month, as the 11th NPC and CPPCC will convene their first session on March 5 and March 3 respectively.

China has been intensifying its efforts to combat corruption in recent years.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) pledged earlier this year to continue to vigorously root out crooked officials.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up drive, and the restoration of the CPC's discipline bodies.

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2008)