BEIJING, July 16  -- Zhao Zhiyong, a former senior official in east China's Jiangxi Province, has been stripped of Party membership for serious discipline violation, the discipline watchdog of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said Wednesday.

The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a statement that Zhao was found to have taken advantage of his position to seek personal interests.

Zhao was removed earlier from his posts as a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Jiangxi Provincial Committee and secretary-general of the CPC Jiangxi Provincial Committee.

Zhao has been been demoted to the level of staff member and his properties gained improperly have been confiscated, the CCDI said.