A teacher who allegedly helped a relative get into university by stealing the identity of one of his students has been expelled from the Party and demoted, an official said.

Liu Ming, 46, a high school teacher in Shanxian county, Shandong province has admitted that he held back a university acceptance letter addressed to student Zhou Zhijing in 1999.

Liu then passed the letter on to his cousin Liu Yanli, who as a result was enrolled in Shandong Zibo University of Medicine, a Party discipline official surnamed Guo told Beijing News yesterday.