– ‘Power for sex and money’ –
Communist Party authorities have been waging an anti-graft campaign since Xi ascended to the leadership two years ago.
The campaign has netted high-level “tigers” as well as low-level “flies” – although critics say the Communist Party has failed to introduce systemic reforms to prevent graft, such as public disclosure of assets.
According to the Xinhua report, which cited a Politburo statement, Zhou “abused his power to help relatives, mistresses and friends make huge profits from operating businesses, resulting in serious losses of state-owned assets”.
In unusually frank language, the news agency also said that Zhou was found to have “committed adultery with a number of women and traded his power for sex and money.
“What Zhou did completely deviated from the Party’s nature and mission, and seriously violated Party discipline,” Xinhua wrote, citing the Politburo statement.
“His behaviours badly undermined the reputation of the Party, significantly damaged the cause of the Party and the people, and have yielded serious consequences,” it added.
In a commentary published on its website the People’s Daily newspaper wrote: “Corruption is a malignant tumour (or cancer) that has invaded the party’s healthy body.”
It said combating graft was “a necessary requirement in order to uphold the party’s leadership and consolidate its ruling status”.
Adultery is not illegal in China, but the Communist Party has for years been embarrassed by reports of its cadres keeping multiple mistresses.
Authorities said in June that officials guilty of affairs “could be removed from their posts, or stripped of party membership”.
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