After ruling Beijing for more than a decade, the city's top Communist has been forced out amid a series of corruption scandals.
Beijing Communist Party secretary Chen Xitong, 65, resigned Thursday to "take responsibility" for the ever-widening scandals.He was replaced by Wei Jian-xing, a rising star in the Chinese leadership and head of its anti-corruption ministry.
China has been fighting corruption since the late 1980s, but the campaigns have failed because they only punished low-level officials. Ordinary Chinese say corruption is worse now than at any time in modern China and are angry that those with power and connections usually escape punishment.
"We must draw profound lessons and steadfastly continue to expand our resolution and confidence in the struggle against corruption," the official Beijing Daily said today in a front-page editorial.
Chen's resignation is a sign that corruption has become such a problem that even the top leadership can no longer afford to ignore it.
Still, as of today, Chen remained a member of the powerful, 20-man Po-lit-buro.
There was no suggestion that Chen was involved in the corruption. But three high-level corruption cases came under his lea-der-ship, including one involving Deputy Mayor Wang Baosen who committed suicide April 4 while under investigation for economic crimes.
Wang was in charge of approving real estate projects in Beijing, where Chen was mayor from 1983 to 1993.
Chen's departure may also be linked to the reportedly fierce infighting among top Chinese officials as senior leader Deng Xiao-ping, 90, becomes more frail.