Former PLA General Xu Caihou to face court martial over graft charges

A former top general was expelled from the Communist Party for alleged corruption and his case handed to prosecutors for investigation, the Politburo announced yesterday.

Xu Caihou , a former vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, is the latest senior military figure implicated in President Xi Jinping's anti-graft campaign.

Along with the decision on Xu, made ahead of the party's 93rd anniversary today, it also expelled three ministerial-ranked officials or state firm executives over allegations of corruption and bribery, Xinhua reported.

All three are closely connected to former security tsar Zhou Yongkang , prompting renewed speculation about whether Zhou's fate would soon be revealed.

A report on the investigation into Xu, who was the No2 career serviceman in the PLA before his retirement, was presented at the Politburo meeting presided over by Xi, Xinhua reported. The case was handed to military prosecutors, it reported.

The 71-year-old Xu, who retired from the commission last year and from the party's decision-making Politburo in 2012, would be the most senior military figure to appear in court for corruption since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. He could face the death penalty if convicted.