Wang Qishan will no longer serve as Beijing mayor and deputy secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), according to a CPC Central Committee decision.

Guo Jinlong, former Party chief of Anhui Province, will assume Wang's position on the municipal Party committee. He was also nominated as a candidate for mayor yesterday.

Guo will serve as vice mayor and acting mayor before the full mayoralty is decided by voting at the municipal people's congress meeting, to be held early next year.

The standing committee meeting also accepted Wang's resignation due to the job reshuffle.

Wang, who took over as mayor during the 2003 SARS epidemic, was elected a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in October.