The 63-year-old was removed from public office and his suspected law violations and evidence were transferred to judicial organs for handling.

Also reaffirmed at the meeting was the expelling of former railways minister Liu Zhijun from the Party in May for corruption following the high-speed train collision that claimed 40 lives and injured another 172 near the eastern city of Wenzhou in July 2011.

The plenum praised the attainments the Party has made since its last national congress in 2007.

Undaunted by the volatilities in the world environment and the arduous task of pursuing development, reform and maintaining stability, the leadership under Hu has "conquered all kinds of hardships and risks while relying on all the people of various ethnic groups, and advanced the work of the Party and the government", the statement said.

Over the past five years, the Politburo has maintained growth, kept prices in line, optimized the economic structure and improved livelihoods. It has also deepened reform and promoted social harmony by adhering to scientific development and speeding up transformation of the economic growth pattern, according to the statement.

"The Political Bureau has comprehensively pushed forward socialist economic, political, cultural, social construction and ecological protection ... and achieved remarkable results and maintained a stable and relatively fast economic development as well as social harmony and stability," it said.

Alongside the plenum, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection held a two-day meeting, pledging to intensify anti-corruption efforts.

The commission released a statement after the meeting, warning that anti-corruption is a "long-term, complicated and tough battle", according to a Xinhua report.

The document said the Party is faced with the growing danger of "lacking drive, incompetence, being divorced from the people, and corruption".

The CPC will stick to the guidelines of curbing graft by imposing penalties and preventive measures while giving more weight to prevention, Xinhua quoted the document as saying.

Contact the writer at zhaohuanxin@chinadaily.com.cn