BEIJING - A 45-year-old professor at the prestigious Xi'an Jiaotong University in Northwest China's Shaanxi province was sacked on Sunday after six of his colleagues repeatedly posted letters to the university and on the Internet exposing his academic scandals.

"Due to the severe academic malpractice of Li Liansheng, the university has decided to abolish his title of professor and terminate him as a teacher," a statement published on the university's website announced.

Li's delayed punishment was meted out over two years after six colleagues made their first report to the university about the energy and power studies specialist plagiarizing the work of others in his application for the highest technology awards from the Ministry of Education.