A party official in east China's Zhejiang Province was sacked after overstaying more than 40 days in France and refusing to come back, according to the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Yang Xianghong, 53, former secretary of the Lucheng District Committee of the CPC, in Wenzhou City, was accused of "damaging the Party's image and ruining the country's reputation". His wrongdoing also infringed on China's law on public servants and the Party's disciplines, an official with the provincial CPC committee said.

Yang departed on Sept. 19 on a 12-day official tour to Europe. But he left the delegation before the return trip, saying he was suffering serious back illness which prevented him from taking long trip by air. The other members returned from Paris on Sept. 29 as scheduled.

The provincial Party committee ordered the Wenzhou municipal Party committee to persuade Yang to receive treatment at home.

The city authorities sent a group of two officials and a doctor to Paris on Oct. 23 in the hope of bringing him back. However, the group's only means of contact with Yang was by text message because his mobile phone was turned off.

Yang later called the group leader four times, saying that he would come back when he recovered but refused to reveal where he was. He also declined to set up meetings with the group.

The group lost hope in Yang and returned on Tuesday.

The official did not reveal any further details.

Yang was promoted last year to be a standing committee member of the Wenzhou municipal CPC committee, while still holding his district chief job.

According to an earlier report of Xinhua, Yang had surgery in April 2007 on his recurring back pain. He had confided to some of his peers over the last year that he wanted to step down because of "bad health and there were some people against him."

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2008)