The All-China Youth Federation (ACYF) on Wednesday expelled two former assistants of disgraced officials Chen Liangyu and Zheng Xiaoyu, and penalized one of China's richest men.

The assistants were Cao Wenzhuang, former director of the drug registration department of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), and Qin Yu, former deputy Party secretary of the Shanghai's Baoshan District.

Shanghai tycoon Zhang Rongkun was dismissed from his post as a standing committee member of the ACYF.

The ACYF announced the decision at Wednesday's standing committee session.

Cao, who was detained in January 2006 on suspicion of bribery, had worked as secretary to Zheng Xiaoyu, the former head of China's pharmaceutical watchdog who is under investigation by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, prior to becoming the department director at the SFDA.

Qin Yu was dismissed from his post for allegedly being involved in the misuse of the Shanghai social security fund last August, which later brought down Shanghai party chief Chen Liangyu.

Shanghai tycoon Zhang Rongkun, chairman of the Fuxi Investment Holding Co., Ltd., who was ranked China's 16th richest man by Forbes magazine last year with a fortune of US$605 million, was the first person arrested in the Shanghai social security fund scandal.

Zhang was also dismissed from his post as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in October last year.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2007)