What’s new: Zhou Jiangyong, the former Communist Party chief of the capital of East China's Zhejiang province, pleaded guilty to taking 193 million yuan ($27.9 million) in bribes over his 22-year bureaucratic career.
Zhou, the former party secretary of Hangzhou, appeared at a court in Chuzhou, Anhui province, Thursday for the first hearing of his case. Sentencing will be announced at a later date, the court said.
Zhou started taking bribes when he was a deputy county chief in Zhejiang 22 years ago, according to prosecutors. Zhou used his power in governments of several localities in Zhejiang to provide favors in construction projects, contracts and land usage for individuals and companies in exchange for bribes, prosecutors said.
Background: Zhou, 55, was placed under investigation for suspected corruption in August 2021 and was expelled from the Communist Party in January 2022.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the party’s top graft buster, accused Zhou of “supporting the disorderly expansion of capital,” a major focus of Beijing’s crackdown on illegal ties between government and businesses.
A CCDI investigation found that Zhou accepted bribes worth 90 million yuan from a local construction company owner in exchange for helping the company in getting project tenders through Zhou’s brother, according to a documentary co-produced by the CCDI and state broadcaster CCTV.
Zhou was named party chief of Hangzhou in May 2018 after serving as party chief of Wenzhou, also in Zhejiang, since 2017.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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