BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s ruling Communist Party has expelled a former party boss of northwestern Gansu province, the country’s anti-graft agency said on Friday, after an investigation showed he received bribes and was involved in “superstitious activities”.

In a statement on its website, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said Wang Sanyun, who was appointed as Gansu’s party secretary in late 2011, had been “passive” in implementing the party’s key policies, “seriously derelict” in his duties and accepted bribes and gifts in exchange for offering promotions.

The case has been referred to prosecutors, it said.

Wang, 64, had violated disciplinary regulations by frequenting “private clubs”, the statement said, adding that he had also been involved in “superstitious activities” over a prolonged period of time, without elaborating.

It was not possible to reach Wang or a representative for comment and it was unclear whether he had been allowed to retain a lawyer.

Wang was demoted from his post in Gansu in April to serve on a less prominent special committee of the national legislature, before being detained and placed under investigation in July.

Separately, the commission said that the former president of the country’s second-largest coal producer China Coal Energy Company Ltd, Gao Jianjun, would also be prosecuted for suspected graft after a party investigation found he took bribes and abused his power.

It was not possible to reach Gao or a representative for comment. The company did not answer calls out of business hours early on Friday evening. Gao was put under investigation in May.

President Xi Jinping has presided over a far-reaching anti-corruption drive since coming to power in 2012, punishing more than a million party members, jailing top military figures and retired security tsar Zhou Yongkang, the most senior official toppled for corruption since 1949.