2 Chinese officials charged over millions in ‘bribes’

BEIJING

Chinese prosecutors have charged two former city officials with taking large bribes and possessing properties worth millions with unidentified sources, state media reported Friday.

A former mayor of southwest Kaili city, Guizhou province, appeared in court Thursday on charges of accepting bribes worth more than 40 million yuan ($6.5 million) between 1997-2013 in exchange for seeking benefits for others.

Hong Jinzhou was also accused of not being able to account for where his 31-million-yuan property originated from, Xinhua reported, citing the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court.

During the time of the alleged bribery, Hong held other posts including deputy county government head, economic development and industrial park zones' director and deputy head of the province’s southeast Qiandongnan prefecture.

Meanwhile, a former Communist Party boss of Hongjiang city, central Hunan province, stood trial Monday and Tuesday.  

Prosecutors accused Shu Xi of accepting 7.7 million yuan in bribes between 2005-2013 and possessing property totaling 18 million yuan from unidentified sources.

Verdicts have yet to be issued in the two trials.

Since its launch in 2013, President Xi Jiang’s anti-corruption campaign has investigated tens of thousands of suspects, including dozens of high-profile individuals at the top of the Communist Party.

The highest-ranking official to be investigated under the drive has been former security chief Zhou Yongkang, who was formally charged earlier this month with bribery, abuse of power and the intentional disclosure of state secrets.

In January, Xinhua reported that 71,748 corrupt officials - high-level violators known locally as "tigers" and low-level "flies" – were punished in 2014 for violations of anti-corruption rules.