Wei Jianxing, former head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC), died of illness in Beijing on Friday, according to a statement from the CPC Central Committee.

Wei, 85, was praised in the statement as an excellent Party member, a time-tested and loyal communist soldier, a proletarian revolutionary, statesman and an outstanding leader of the Party and the State.

Wei was also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.