Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Martin Patience reports: "Murder, corruption and cover-up" exposed at the heart of power 
 
 Top Chinese politician Bo Xilai has been expelled from the Communist Party and will face justice, state media say. 
 
 Mr Bo, the ex-Communist Party leader in the city of Chongqing, is accused of abuse of power and corruption. 
 
 His wife, Gu Kailai, was given a suspended death sentence in August for murdering UK national Neil Heywood. 
 
 The scandal has overshadowed the party congress that will oversee China's change of leadership. It will begin on 8 November, state media have announced. 
 
 The BBC's Martin Patience, in Beijing, says the Bo Xilai announcement ends months of speculation over the fate of a man who was once one of China's most powerful politicians. 
 
 Our correspondent says it is clear China's leaders wanted to try to end the damaging revelations, with the once-in-a-decade leadership change looming. 
 
 He says Mr Bo's career is over and he will almost certainly spend time in jail. 
 
 After months of speculation, this announcement seals the fate of the once-powerful Bo Xilai. China's leaders have chosen to bury him by demolishing his career over the last 20 years. But that runs the risk of raising awkward questions about why Mr Bo kept getting promoted - and why the party had so little apparent oversight. The timing of this announcement is also significant. Just minutes before the Bo bombshell, China's state-run news agency Xinhua announced the date of the 18th Party Congress. At the congress, China's once-in-a-decade leadership transition will begin. Before the scandal, Mr Bo had been expected to join the top rank of leaders. But now China's leaders want to try and end a scandal that has exposed murder, cover-up and corruption at the highest level of Chinese politics. 
 
 'Grave repercussions' 
 
 Mr Bo has not been seen in public since mid-March, shortly after the scandal erupted and it was announced he was under investigation. He was suspended from his party posts in April. 
 
 Reporting an official statement from a party leaders' meeting, the state news agency, Xinhua, said Mr Bo stood accused of corruption, abuse of power, bribe-taking and improper relations with women. 
 
 The statement carried by Xinhua said Mr Bo "took advantage of his office to seek profits for others and received huge bribes personally and through his family". 
 
 It added: "Bo's behaviour brought serious consequences, badly undermined the reputation of the party and the country, created very negative impact at home and abroad and significantly damaged the cause of the party and people." 
 
 The statement urged "party organisations at all levels" to take heed of the "negative example" of the Bo Xilai case. 
 
 Xinhua said the violations included Mr Bo's time as an official in Dalian and Liaoning provinces, and as minister of commerce. 
 
 Image caption Bo Xilai (C) with convicted wife Gu Kailai and son Bo Guagua 
 
 "Bo had affairs and maintained improper sexual relationships with a number of women," the statement added. 
 
 Xinhua said Mr Bo had been expelled from the party and the elite decision-making Politburo and Central Committee as he had "abused his power, made severe mistakes and bore major responsibility in the Wang Lijun incident and the intentional homicide case of [Gu Kailai]". 
 
 Wang Lijun was Chongqing's former police chief who was sentenced to 15 years in jail for ''bending the law, defection, abuse of power and bribetaking" in the Neil Heywood case. 
 
 Can people trust the government and the party any more? Post by Qinyang on QQ.com Chinese social media reaction 
 
 The severity of the accusations against Mr Bo surprised some observers, who had thought he might escape criminal prosecution. 
 
 "The party is very anxious to settle this contentious issue before the opening of the party congress," Prof Willy Lam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong told the Associated Press. 
 
 "So I think even though there are still powerful supporters and patrons of Bo Xilai, they have agreed to this stiff penalty to be meted out against Bo. And having settled this contentious issue, the party leadership is in a position to start the party congress with a facade of unity." 
 
 There had been no formal word on the congress date until now, but many observers expected it in October. Prof Lam suggested that any delay had been because of "intensive competition among the various factions". 
 
 There was speedy reaction to the latest news on China's social media sites. 
 
 Timeline: Bo Xilai scandal 6 Feb: Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun flees to the US consulate in Chengdu 
 
 Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun flees to the US consulate in Chengdu 15 Mar: Bo Xilai is removed from his post in Chongqing 
 
 Bo Xilai is removed from his post in Chongqing 20 Mar: Rumours suggest Mr Bo could be linked to the death of British businessman Neil Heywood 
 
 Rumours suggest Mr Bo could be linked to the death of British businessman Neil Heywood 10 Apr: Mr Bo is suspended from party posts and his wife, Gu Kailai, is investigated over Mr Heywood's death 
 
 Mr Bo is suspended from party posts and his wife, Gu Kailai, is investigated over Mr Heywood's death 26 July: Gu Kailai and Bo family employee Zhang Xiaojun are charged with killing Mr Heywood 
 
 Gu Kailai and Bo family employee Zhang Xiaojun are charged with killing Mr Heywood 9 Aug: Gu one-day trial for murder held 
 
 Gu one-day trial for murder held 20 Aug: Gu given suspended death sentence 
 
 Gu given suspended death sentence 5 Sep : Wang charged with defection, abuse of power and bribe-taking 
 
 : Wang charged with defection, abuse of power and bribe-taking 24 Sep: Wang sentenced to 15 years in jail 
 
 Wang sentenced to 15 years in jail 28 Sep: Bo Xilai expelled from party to "face justice" Scandal timeline Bo charges: Party statement 
 
 On Sina Weibo, Shenjing Jihua posted that Mr Bo had "finally met his end", adding: "So justice will prevail, and there is still hope for China." 
 
 Although there were some postings in support of Mr Bo, others broadened the affair into a critique of Chinese corruption. 
 
 Huaju Yanyuan on QQ.com said: "The case of Bo Xilai tells us that one overlooked event led to a series of troubles, and that there isn't any clean official in China." 
 
 The news came on the eve of a national holiday, raising suspicions the authorities wanted to bury the announcement, some observers note. 
 
 Xinhua also announced that the party congress, which will herald the change of China's leadership, will begin on 8 November. 
 
 The Bo Xilai scandal has been China's biggest in two decades and has cast a long shadow over the run-up to the congress, which is expected to see Xi Jinping replace Hu Jintao as president. 
 
 Mr Bo, 63, had been a prime candidate for a top post before the scandal broke. 
 
 It started when Wang Lijun fled to a US consulate in February, alleging that Gu Kailai had poisoned Neil Heywood to death in November 2011. 
 
 Gu was convicted of killing Mr Heywood after a multi-million dollar business deal turned sour. Mr Bo's supporters have claimed from the start that he is being framed by his political enemies, correspondents say. 
 
 There are still questions surrounding the scandal. On Thursday, one of China's top forensic scientists cast doubt on Gu's conviction, saying there was no evidence the Briton was poisoned with cyanide. ||||| The Chinese Communist Party expelled former high-flying official Bo Xilai, according to state-run media on Friday. Jeremy Page has details on The News Hub. Photo: Bloomberg. 
 
 BEIJING—China's leadership expelled former highflying official Bo Xilai from the Communist Party and launched criminal proceedings against him, citing a litany of wrongdoing over 30 years, including taking huge bribes, abusing his power during a murder investigation against his wife and engaging in improper sexual relations with several women. 
 
 The moves suggest China's leadership is trying to send a strong message to the public that it will tackle the issues at the heart of the Bo scandal—corruption, abuse of power, and the decadent lives led by some members of the party elite. That represents an acknowledgment that growing public anger over those issues constitutes a grave threat to the party's future grip on power. 
 
 More 
 
 The decision by the party's Politburo, announced by the state-run Xinhua news agency, came as the world's second largest economy wrestles with a host of knotty problems—an economic slowdown, a sovereignty fight with Japan over some islands, and a pending once-a-decade leadership shuffle that the Bo scandal had thrown into turmoil. 
 
 There is also the issue of lingering support among the public for Mr. Bo and the populist style of government he pursued as party leader in Chongqing. There, he presided over a Maoist revival movement and heavy state spending on infrastructure and social programs. By accusing Mr. Bo of extensive wrongdoing, over his entire career, the party appears to be determined to crush that support. 
 
 Another announcement Friday indicated that current and retired party chieftains have likely reached broad agreement in negotiations over the new leadership lineup. After weeks of feuding and horse-trading, the Politburo—the party's top 24 leaders—set Nov. 8 as the opening for a Congress at which President Hu Jintao and other senior figures are to retire from their party posts. 
 
 The risk the leaders run with a broad judicial case against Mr. Bo is attracting criticism from members of the public who already have been wondering how he was able to rise almost to the pinnacle of power—and whether he would have gone further were it not for his former police chief. 
 
 That chief, after a falling out with Mr. Bo, triggered the scandal in early February by going to a U.S. consulate and reporting evidence that Mr. Bo's wife had murdered a British businessman. Before then, Mr. Bo was a front-runner for a spot on the Politburo's powerful Standing Committee. 
 
 "What we should be thinking about is how, at every step along the road, he was violating discipline. How did he climb so high? We should consider problems with the system," wrote Lei Yi, a historian, in a posting on Sina Weibo, a microblog service akin to Twitter. 
 
 Differences over how to handle Mr. Bo, the son of a fabled revolutionary, are believed to have delayed an announcement on when the leadership succession would begin, according to party insiders, political analysts and diplomats. 
 
 Those people say that powerful figures, thought to include former President Jiang Zemin, argued until recently that Mr. Bo should be disciplined within the party for limited wrongdoing in Chongqing rather than face criminal charges, which in China almost always bring conviction. 
 
 Bo Xilai: A WSJ Documentary 
 
 The fall of Bo Xilai, once a rising star in Chinese politics, has plunged the country into its biggest crisis since Tiananmen Square. In this documentary, The Wall Street Journal examines how his downfall has altered the debate about China's future. 
 
 Next in Line After other trials, Bo is up Enlarge Image Close Associated Press Bo Xilai—The former party chief in Chongqing was suspended from Party posts and placed under investigation for unspecified "serious disciplinary violations" on April 10. Eexpelled from the party on Sept. 28 and accused of wrongdoing involving bribes, power abuse and improper sexual relations with multiple women. Enlarge Image Close CCTV/Reuters Zhang Xiaojun—The Bo family aide was convicted on Aug. 20 of murdering Briton Neil Heywood and sentenced to nine years in prison. Enlarge Image Close Associated Press Wang Lijun—The former Chongqing police chief was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison on Sept. 24 for defection, bribery, abuse of power and "bending the law for selfish ends." Enlarge Image Close Reuters Gu Kailai—Bo's wife on Aug. 20 was convicted of Heywood's murder and given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve (typically commuted to life imprisonment). 
 
 Friday's announcement suggests that Mr. Bo's opponents, believed to include President Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao, convinced other leaders that he should face trial for serious crimes that lawyers say can carry the death penalty. Party insiders say Mr. Bo is more likely to draw a long prison sentence. 
 
 Mr. Bo was dismissed from his Communist Party posts in April and put under investigation for unspecified "serious disciplinary violations" by the party's internal watchdog, which typically makes a recommendation to the party leadership on whether to file criminal charges. Xinhua said Friday that Mr. Bo's case had been transferred to "judicial organs." It gave no indication of when formal charges would be filed or when a trial might be held. 
 
 "Bo's behaviors have yielded serious consequences, badly undermined the reputation of the party and the country, created very negative impacts at home and abroad and significantly damaged the cause of the party and the people," Xinhua said. 
 
 It added that Mr. Bo had repeatedly "violated party discipline" over a lengthy career, dating back to his days as mayor of the northeast port city of Dalian from 1993 to 2001 and continuing through his time as governor of Liaoning province, as China's commerce minister and as party chief in Chongqing. 
 
 Senior party figures have been convicted of serious crimes before, but it is extremely rare for one to be accused of serial violations over an entire career. Chen Youxi, a prominent lawyer, wrote on his microblog that "among Politburo members, Mr. Bo's crimes and punishment could set a new record." 
 
 Xinhua said Mr. Bo had "abused his power, made severe mistakes and bore major responsibility" in his wife's murder case and in the case of Wang Lijun, the former police chief who fled to a U.S. consulate. 
 
 Mr. Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, was convicted in August of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood. Mr. Wang this week was convicted of defection, bribery, abuse of power and "bending the law for selfish ends" by initially trying to cover up Ms. Gu's crime. 
 
 The Chongqing Drama See key dates in the death of Neil Heywood in Chongqing and the drama surrounding Bo Xilai. View Graphics Players in China's Leadership Purge Read more about the players in the case. View Graphics 
 
 During their trials, prosecutors made hardly any direct references to Mr. Bo, and no mentions of corruption, suggesting to some he would escape charges relating to economic crimes. But Friday's announcement made clear that corruption in his family had been a big part of the investigation. 
 
 "He took advantage of his office to seek profits for others and received huge bribes personally and through his family," Xinhua stated. Ms. Gu also abused her position "to seek profits for others, and the Bo family accepted a huge amount of money and property from others," it said. 
 
 It didn't mention any other members of the family. During Ms. Gu's trial, prosecutors said she believed Mr. Heywood had threatened her son, Bo Guagua, after they became embroiled in a business dispute over a failed property deal. 
 
 Bo Guagua, who graduated from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government this year, and who friends say is still living in the U.S., didn't respond to an emailed request for comment. 
 
 Zhang Ming, a political scientist at Renmin University in Beijing, said Friday's announcement was as politically significant as that of a failed 1971 coup attempt against Chairman Mao Zedong by his military chief and designated successor, Lin Biao. 
 
 Mr. Zhang said he believed China's leaders were worried by recent anti-Japanese demonstrations, during which many protesters appeared to show support for Mr. Bo by carrying portraits of Chairman Mao, whose patriotic songs Mr. Bo had revived. 
 
 "If they didn't take Bo Xilai's actions and announce them to the people, he would just turn into a populist leader," Mr. Zhang said. 
 
 Xinhua went on to say that Bo Xilai "had or maintained improper sexual relationships with a number of women," without providing details. The investigation also found he had made "erroneous decisions in the promotion of personnel," the news agency said, and uncovered evidence that suggested his involvement in other crimes. 
 
 Mr. Zhang said that citing Mr. Bo's relationships with women appeared to be an attempt to sully his reputation. "This is just to discredit him," he said, to tell Mr. Bo's fans: "Look at the person who you support." 
 
 Mr. Bo has been unreachable for comment. He is believed to be under a form of house detention. 
 
 A longtime friend of the Bo family said he didn't believe Mr. Bo would be executed, but most likely would face a life sentence. "If you want to be a politician, you have to think about one day it might happen," the friend said. 
 
 While some observers said Mr. Bo's trial could be rushed through before the party Congress, He Weifang, a law professor at Peking University, said he thought it might not happen for several months. 
 
 "I still don't think we'll find out the real facts of this case, and there is still the question of whether we would know any of this if Wang Lijun had not gone to the U.S. consulate," said Mr. He. 
 
 —Brian Spegele and Josh Chin contributed to this article. 
 
 Write to Jeremy Page at jeremy.page@wsj.com 
 
 Corrections & Amplifications 
 
 A former Chongqing, China, police chief accused the wife of Bo Xilai of murdering a British businessman. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said he accused Mr. Bo. Also, in an earlier version, historian Lei Yi's name was misspelled Lei Yu. ||||| BEIJING—Chinese authorities formally charged former Communist Party highflier Bo Xilai with corruption, embezzlement and abuse of power on Thursday, setting the stage for a trial in a scandal that exposed alleged corruption and political infighting in the top echelons of China's ruling party. 
 
 Chinese authorities charged former Communist official Bo Xilai with corruption, embezzlement and abuse of power.The WSJ's Jake Lee speaks with Brian Spegele about what to expect for the trial in August. 
 
 The indictment was filed Thursday in a court in the city of Jinan, in China's eastern Shandong province, the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday. It didn't specify a date. 
 
 The indictment accuses Mr. Bo of taking advantage of his position "to seek profits for others" and accepting an "extremely large amount" in money and property, Xinhua said. "He also embezzled a huge amount of public money and abused his power, seriously harming the interests of the state and people," the indictment said, according to Xinhua. Mr. Bo had been informed of his legal rights and interviewed by prosecutors, Xinhua said. 
 
 The news agency didn't immediately provide additional details. But an internal document issued by the party's General Office said Mr. Bo would be tried on charges of taking 20 million yuan ($3.2 million) in bribes via his wife, embezzling five million yuan, and abusing power, said a party official who received the document on Wednesday. The trial would start shortly, the official said. 
 
 A trial should begin in mid- or late August, another person directly involved in the case said Wednesday. In the case of Mr. Bo's wife, who last year was convicted of murdering a British businessman close to the family, and in the case of a former Bo deputy convicted last year for his role in the scandal, the trial occurred within weeks of the indictment. 
 
 That person said it wasn't possible to confirm the precise charges, as the official indictment hadn't been published, but that they were likely to include bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power. "That's not far off," the person said. 
 
 Mr. Bo has been in detention since April 2012. Authorities could alter their plans at any point, in a system where the party leadership controls police, prosecutors and judges and dictates the outcome of politically sensitive cases. Several other national and local officials declined to comment or said they had no information about the matter. 
 
 WSJ Documentary The fall of Bo Xilai, once a rising star in Chinese politics, has plunged the country into its biggest crisis since Tiananmen Square. In this documentary, The Wall Street Journal examines how his downfall has altered the debate about China's future. 
 
 Mr. Bo's long-awaited trial is expected to be the final set piece of a scandal that exposed alleged corruption, abuse of power and bitter rivalries within China's political elite in the sensitive run-up to last year's once-a-decade shake-up of the party's top leadership. 
 
 Concluding the scandal has been one of the most delicate political challenges facing Xi Jinping, China's new leader, who needs to maintain a balance between Mr. Bo's supporters and opponents while satisfying public demands for justice, said party insiders, analysts and diplomats. 
 
 The issue was complicated for several months by Mr. Bo's refusal to cooperate with the investigation, said several people familiar with the matter. Mr. Bo has been unavailable for comment since his detention last year. Shortly before his detention, Mr. Bo defended his record of service and rejected allegations of corruption in his family. 
 
 China's Leadership Purge See the key players in the scandal, and convictions. View Graphics Timeline: Chongqing Drama View a timeline of the Bo Xilai scandal that has rocked China's political elite. View Graphics The Wall Street Journal View a timeline of the Bo Xilai scandal that has rocked China's political elite. 
 
 Before the scandal, Mr. Bo was the popular Communist Party chief of the western city of Chongqing, a member of the Politburo—the party's top 25 leaders—and a front-runner for promotion to the narrower Politburo Standing Committee, the top decision-making body, in last year's leadership change. 
 
 He and his wife, Gu Kailai, were detained after his former police chief in Chongqing sought refuge in the U.S. Consulate in the nearby city of Chengdu in February 2012 and told U.S. diplomats there that Ms. Gu had been involved in the murder of Neil Heywood , a British businessman close to the Bo family. 
 
 Ms. Gu was convicted in August of Mr. Heywood's murder and given a suspended death sentence, which in China is usually commuted to life in prison. She couldn't be reached for comment on her case or on the charges against Mr. Bo. 
 
 The former Chongqing police chief, Wang Lijun , was convicted in September and sentenced to 15 years in prison for defection, abuse of power, bribe-taking and "bending the law for selfish ends." 
 
 In September, China's leadership expelled Mr. Bo from the Communist Party, citing a litany of wrongdoing over his career, including allegedly taking huge bribes, abusing his power during the murder investigation into his wife and engaging in improper sexual relations with several women. Party insiders and political analysts have been waiting for details of the precise charges against Mr. Bo, as an indication both of the likely penalty, and of Mr. Xi's commitment to combat corruption and abuse of power in the party's upper echelons. 
 
 The charges outlined in the document seen by the party official Wednesday were less severe than many analysts, diplomats and party insiders have expected. Corruption cases involving such sums are relatively common in China: Liu Zhijun, a former railways minister, was given a suspended death sentence this month for abuse of power and taking 64.6 million yuan in bribes. 
 
 The document concerning Mr. Bo also said the charges related only to his time as mayor of the northeastern city of Dalian and as Commerce Minister, according to the person who reviewed it. Mr. Bo was Dalian mayor from 1993 to 2000 and commerce minister from 2004 to 2007. 
 
 There was no mention in the document of charges relating to Mr. Bo's tenure as party chief of Chongqing, which began in 2007, the person said. During his tenure he launched a high-profile campaign against organized crime that many lawyers, legal scholars and political analysts said entailed widespread legal abuses and was used to strip uncooperative private entrepreneurs of their businesses. 
 
 Mr. Bo also launched a campaign to revive the collectivist spirit of Chairman Mao Zedong through mass performances of revolutionary songs, which was popular in Chongqing but outraged many victims of the Mao era, including some senior party figures. 
 
 It wasn't immediately clear why Jinan was chosen. Ms. Gu's trial took place in the central city of Hefei, which had no apparent connection to the case. Some party insiders and political analysts suggested Hefei was chosen because local officials there were considered especially loyal to the party leadership. 
 
 Write to Jeremy Page at jeremy.page@wsj.com and Lingling Wei at lingling.wei@wsj.com 
 
 A version of this article appeared July 25, 2013, on page A7 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Fallen Party Highflier Bo Xilai Formally Charged With Corruption.
– Former Chinese political star Bo Xilai has been expelled from the country's Communist Party, Voice of America reports, following his wife's suspended death sentence in the murder of a British businessman. Once the party leader in the city of Chongqing and a likely candidate for high national office, Bo now stands accused of corruption, abusing power, taking bribes, and "improper relations with women," the BBC reports. "Bo Xilai's actions created grave repercussions, and massively damaged the reputation of the party and the state," said Xinhua, the state news agency, which adds that he will "face justice." The party also announced that the National Congress will convene Nov. 8, a meeting that will put into a place a new generation of leaders. The Wall Street Journal's take on the twin announcements: "By unveiling the accusations against Mr. Bo at the same time as it announced the beginning of the leadership change, party officials appear to be trying to send a signal to the country regarding corruption, the abuse of power and the decadent lifestyles of many within the party elite," writes Jeremy Page. It seems that the party finally recognizes the public's wrath.