Beijing ( CNN ) -- Chinese authorities announced murder charges Thursday against the wife of disgraced Communist Party figure Bo Xilai , a new step in a scandal China 's ruling hierarchy is scrambling to put behind them . Bo 's wife , Gu Kailai , is accused of killing British businessman Neil Heywood in November , the state news agency Xinhua reported . Gu and a family aide have been accused of poisoning Heywood , who died in November . Heywood died in the southwestern Chinese metropolis of Chongqing , where Bo was the Communist Party chief and a rising star in the party -- the son of one of the `` eight immortals '' of the revolution that created modern China . The case has forced the Communist leadership to confront allegations of wrongdoing by a high-ranking member in an unusually public way , said Douglas Paal , a top China analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington . `` The disruption of his departure from office and his wife 's crimes have made it difficult to present a facade of unity to their people , '' Paal said . China 's internet 'battlefield ' over Bo . That united front has been key to ruling China for 2,000 years , he said . The current generation of leaders has been particularly sensitive to maintaining it since 1989 , when the party hierarchy split over how to deal with the pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing 's Tiananmen Square . Instead , the scandal surrounding Bo and his family `` showed what people suspected was high-level corruption at high levels of government , '' Paal said . Now , the leadership is trying to resolve the affair before its once-in-a-decade leadership transition at the Communist Party Congress meeting later this year , said Joseph Fewsmith , an international relations professor at Boston University and a longtime China watcher . `` There was a desire on the part of the Chinese Communist Party to get this case settled . It 's not yet , but it is out of the party and into the hands of criminal courts -- well before the 18th Party Congress , '' Fewsmith said . With the issue now before the courts , the case could be resolved `` within the next couple weeks , '' he said . `` With these cases being dealt with at this time , I expect there to be smooth sailing to the 18th Party Congress , '' he said . `` There may be some bargaining to go , but most of it has been done . '' Heywood , 41 , was found dead in his hotel room in Chongqing , a city of more than 30 million . Officials quickly blamed his death on `` excessive consumption of alcohol , '' according to media reports , and his body was cremated without an autopsy . But the matter blew open in February , when Bo 's longtime lieutenant , Wang Lijun , sought refuge at the U.S. Consulate in nearby Chengdu . Wang , the former police chief who managed Bo 's anti-crime push , wanted political asylum , apparently fearing for his life and allegedly holding incriminating information against his boss . Media reports and online posts claimed Wang clashed with Bo after suggesting Heywood had been poisoned amid a business dispute with Bo 's wife -- an allegation that appears in the charges announced Thursday . Daring to speak out about Bo Xilai thriller . Gu and family aide Zhang Xiaojun were arrested in early April . The same day , Xinhua announced that Bo had been stripped of his seats on the Communist Party 's Central Committee and Politburo , the nation 's ruling organs , for an unspecified `` serious breach of regulations . '' Who is Gu Kailai ? But Paal said Wang , not Bo , `` is probably the most hated '' figure in the affair for going to the Americans . Wang was taken into custody once he left the consulate for entering the diplomatic post without authorization . Paal said his gambit forced China to deal with the scandal with an unprecedented level of transparency , prodded along by social media . `` That 's keeping them honest in a lot of places where they could be dishonest in the past , '' he said . Meanwhile , the party has painted Bo as an outlier who violated party discipline and has been `` very careful '' not to use his case to purge the party of most of his supporters . Gu and Zhang are awaiting trial in Hefei , in eastern China . A Bo family friend told CNN that Gu 's lawyers were chosen by the government , not the family . The friend , who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter , also said the Bo family was not notified of Gu 's whereabouts until last week . Read more : Investing in China just grew murkier . Authorities say Gu and her son came into conflict with Heywood over `` economic interests , '' and she regarded Heywood as a threat to her son 's safety . Fewsmith said that allegation is the `` one real surprise '' in the charges . `` This had not previously been reported , '' he said . Britain , which had asked China to investigate the matter further after being informed of growing concern about Heywood 's case , said it welcomed the charges . `` The details of the ongoing investigation are a matter for the Chinese authorities , '' a Foreign Office spokesman said in a statement Thursday . `` However , we are glad to see that the Chinese authorities are continuing with the investigation into the death of Neil Heywood . We are dedicated to seeking justice for him and his family and we will be following developments closely . '' Read more : Inside China 's murder mystery hotel . Speculation has been rife about the nature of Heywood 's work in China and his ties to Bo 's family . Heywood had lived in China for more than a decade and was married to a Chinese woman . Among the companies Heywood advised was Hakluyt and Co. , a consulting firm founded by former officers of the British spy agency MI6 . That link fueled rumors that Heywood might have had connections to British intelligence services . But in a rare public statement on such matters in April , British Foreign Secretary William Hague denied that possibility . `` Mr. Heywood was not an employee of the British government in any capacity , '' he said in a letter . He said the British government would usually neither confirm nor deny those accounts , but that he was making an exception `` given the intense interest in this case . '' CNN 's Matt Smith contributed to this report .
NEW : China has had to deal publicly with a major scandal , a U.S. analyst says . Bo Xilai had been one of China 's most prominent politicians . He was the Communist Party chief in Chongqing and then mayor of Beijing before being removed from office for corruption. Communist leaders want the scandal over before their next party congress , an expert says .