Top Chinese politician Bo Xilai has been expelled from the Communist Party and will face justice, state media say. Mr Bo, the ex-Communist Party leader in the city of Chongqing, is accused of abuse of power and corruption. His wife, Gu Kailai, was given a suspended death sentence in August for killing UK national Neil Heywood. The scandal has overshadowed the party congress that will oversee China's change of leadership. It will begin on 8 November, state media have announced. The BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing says the Bo Xilai announcement ends months of speculation over the fate of a man who was once one of China's most powerful politicians. Our correspondent says it is clear China's leaders wanted to try to end the damaging revelations, with the once-in-a-decade leadership change looming. 'Grave repercussions' Mr Bo has not been seen in public since shortly after the scandal erupted and was said to be under investigation. He was suspended from his party posts in April. Reporting an official statement from a party leaders' meeting, the state news agency, Xinhua, said Mr Bo stood accused of corruption, abuse of power, bribe-taking and improper relations with women. The statement carried by Xinhua said Mr Bo "committed serious errors and bears a major responsibility". "He took advantage of his office to seek profits for others and received huge bribes personally and through his family," Xinhua said. It added: "Bo Xilai's actions created grave repercussions, and massively damaged the reputation of the party and the state at home and abroad." The statement urged "party organisations at all levels" to take heed of the "negative example" of the Bo Xilai case. Xinhua said the violations included Mr Bo's time as an official in Dalian and Liaoning provinces, and as minister of commerce. Xinhua said Mr Bo had been expelled from the party and the elite decision-making Politburo and Central Committee "in view of his errors and culpability in the Wang Lijun incident and the intentional homicide case involving [Gu Kailai]". Wang Lijun was Chongqing's former police chief who was sentenced to 15 years in jail for "bending the law, defection, abuse of power and bribetaking" in the Neil Heywood case. Xinhua also announced that the party congress, which will herald the change of China's leadership, would begin on 8 November. The Bo Xilai scandal has been China's biggest in decades and has cast a long shadow over the run-up to the congress, which is expected to see Xi Jinping replace Hu Jintao as president. Mr Bo, 63, had been a prime candidate for a top post before the scandal broke. It started when Wang Lijun fled to a US consulate in February, alleging that Gu Kailai had poisoned Neil Heywood to death in November 2011. Gu was convicted of killing Mr Heywood after a multi-million dollar business deal turned sour.