WUHAN (XINHUA) - Zhang Qin, full-time deputy director of the Hubei branch of the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), has been removed from office for dereliction of duty in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic, the provincial supervisory commission said on Tuesday (Feb 4).

Mr Zhang was also dismissed from the leading party members group of the RCSC Hubei branch committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and given a serious intra-party warning as well as a serious administrative demerit, it said.

An investigation showed that certain officials and cadres with the RCSC Hubei branch failed to take responsibility when receiving and distributing donated funds and relief goods in the effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus epidemic that originated in the provincial capital Wuhan.

They were also found to have violated regulations and be responsible for information disclosure errors, the commission said in a notice.

Meanwhile, Mr Chen Bo, a member of the leading party members group of the RCSC Hubei branch committee of the CPC, was given a serious intra-party warning and a serious administrative demerit. Mr Gao Qin, chief of the RCSC Hubei branch committee of the CPC and also the executive vice-director of RCSC Hubei branch, was given an intra-party warning, according to the notice.