BEIJING - Liu Zhijun was on Friday formally dismissed from his post as Minister of Railways.

The decision by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, comes just weeks after it was announced the 58-year-old is under investigation for "severe discipline violations".

On Feb 12, the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee said Liu was replaced as the ministry's Party chief. Sheng Guangzu, 62, former head of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), has been appointed the new railways minister. He was also earlier named the ministry's new Party chief.