BEIJING - Du Shanxue, former vice governor of north China's coal-rich Shanxi province, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) for bribery, adultery and abuse of power, announced the CPC's anti-graft watchdog on Friday.

Du will also be removed from his post of vice governor and member of the standing committee of the CPC Shanxi provincial committee, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said following an investigation.

The investigation found that Du accepted gifts and "a large volume of bribes", and "sought benefits for others in official selection and appointments as well as the operation of companies". He also bribed others and committed adultery, according to the CCDI statement.

Du is also suspected of the crimes of offering and taking bribes, and will be put under judicial investigation. The properties he gained illegally will be confiscated, it said.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate announced on Friday that Du had been placed under "coercive measures" and indicted by prosecutors for bribery.

Under China's criminal procedure law, coercive measures include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention and arrest.