The lawyer for the family of a British businessman murdered by the wife of a Chinese politician said some progress has been made in efforts to seek compensation.

Deposed politician Bo Xilai will go on trial on charges of corruption and abuse of power within weeks, wrapping up a festering scandal that China’s new leaders want disposed of as they cement their authority.

China’s President Hu Jintao called today for sterner measures against official corruption while urging the Communist Party to maintain firm political control as he prepares to hand over power after a decade in office.

China’s communists called the scandal surrounding disgraced politician Bo Xilai a “profound lesson” for the ruling party, as delegates gathered in Beijing on the eve of a key leadership congress.

Activists, academics and dissidents are questioning China’s purge of Bo Xilai, demanding the rule of law be followed allowing the disgraced leader to defend himself.

Disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai has been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and will face corruption and other criminal charges.

A top Chinese government forensic scientist has questioned the official cause of death of murdered British businessman Neil Heywood.

The ex-police chief at the centre of a seamy political scandal will be sentenced on Monday as Chinese leaders move to dispatch with a messy affair that has upset a tricky transition of power.

The trial of an ex-police chief at the centre of a divisive political scandal in China has ended, bringing the country's leadership closer to resolving a case that exposed infighting and hit plans for a transfer of power to new leaders.

The ex-police chief at the centre of China's worst political scandal in decades has gone on trial in a closed hearing involving state secrets.

A former police chief linked to a disgraced leader at the centre of China’s biggest political scandal in decades will stand trial on Tuesday on charges that include defection and bribery.

China’s political elite has been shaken by a lurid new scandal over the death of a senior official’s son who crashed his Ferrari during what appeared to be a sex session with two women.

China sentenced the wife of fallen Politburo member Bo Xilai to death yesterday but suspended her execution — setting the stage for a possible final purge of Bo himself in a scandal that has shaken Beijing ahead of a leadership transition.

The wife of a fallen Chinese politician was given a suspended death sentence today after confessing to killing British businessman Neil Heywood in a case that rocked the country’s political leadership.

Chinese leaders may spare a politician’s wife the death penalty for killing British businessman Neil Heywood, fearing it might incite public sympathy, analysts said today.

A Chinese court will deliver a verdict on Monday in the trial of ousted politician Bo Xilai’s wife, accused of killing a British businessman.

The wife of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai lured a British businessman to a hotel in Chongqing, where she got him drunk and fed him poison, one of China’s highest-profile murder trials in years heard.

The wife of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai lured a British businessman to a hotel in the south-western mega-city of Chongqing, where she got him drunk and fed him poison, according to testimony today in one of China’s highest-profile murder trials in years.

The murder trial of the wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai will start next Thursday, lawyers have said.

Chinese prosecutors are charging the wife of former Chinese politician Bo Xilai and a family aide with the murder of a British businessman.

Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is set to take legal action after claims she worked as $1 million-a-night prostitute for ruling members of the Chinese Communist Party

The wife of a senior Communist Party official in China is being held over the murder of a British businessman, state media has reported.