Sun Zhengcai

A former Chinese Communist Party official who was once tipped as a potential successor to President Xi Jinping was sentenced to life in prison for bribery on Tuesday, the latest senior cadre to fall in Xi's sweeping anti-corruption crusade.

Until recently, Sun Zhengcai, the party secretary of the metropolis of Chongqing, "the Chicago on the Yangtze," was seen as a possible successor to Xi Jinping. Then, in July, the Communist Party of China launched an investigation against him for corruption, leading to Sun's dismissal from office and the precipitous end to his political career.

China's ruling Communist Party today expelled Sun Zhengcai, a rising political star and frontrunner to the key policy body, for serious discipline violations ahead of next month's key Congress, state media reported today.

A former Chinese Communist Party official who was once tipped as a potential successor to President Xi Jinping was sentenced to life in prison for bribery on Tuesday, the latest senior cadre to fall in Xi's sweeping anti-corruption crusade.

Until recently, Sun Zhengcai, the party secretary of the metropolis of Chongqing, "the Chicago on the Yangtze," was seen as a possible successor to Xi Jinping. Then, in July, the Communist Party of China launched an investigation against him for corruption, leading to Sun's dismissal from office and the precipitous end to his political career.

China's ruling Communist Party today expelled Sun Zhengcai, a rising political star and frontrunner to the key policy body, for serious discipline violations ahead of next month's key Congress, state media reported today.