Former Shenzhen mayor stripped of seat in top legislature

GUANGZHOU, July 30 -- Two officials, including the former mayor of

south China's Shenzhen City, have been stripped of their posts as deputies to

the National People's Congress, the national legislature, after being

investigated for serious disciplinary offences, the Guangdong provincial

legislature announced Thursday.

The standing committee of the 11th Guangdong Provincial People's Congresses

held its 12th meeting and passed a resolution regarding the removal of former

Shenzhen mayor Xu Zongheng and Liu Youjun, former chief of the provincial

department of labor and social security.

Xu Zongheng, 54, who became mayor of Shenzhen in 2005, was removed from his

post for "serious disciplinary violations," in June.

According to media reports, Xu was implicated in a case involving China's

richest person, Huang Guangyu, chairman of Gome, China's largest home appliance

retailing chain.

Huang was detained by Beijing police last November for allegedly

manipulating share trading, a charge being investigated by the Ministry of

Public Security. Huang owns a third of Beijing-based Gome with estimated assets

of 43 billion yuan (6.3 billion U.S. dollars).

Liu, 46, was a native of Jiangsu Province in east China. He had served in

senior posts in the provincial government of Guangdong since 2003, including

vice secretary-general of the government.

Their cases are being handled according to the law.