What’s new: Dong Yunhu, a former head of the Shanghai legislature, pleaded guilty to accepting 148 million yuan ($20.4 million) in bribes over a 21-year period in office, a court said.
Dong, 62, stood trial on Thursday at the Hefei Intermediate People's Court in Anhui province, eastern China. He is the first provincial-level senior official to be tried this year on corruption charges.
Prosecutors have charged Dong with abusing his previous roles, including as Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee and Chief of the Publicity Department of the Xizang Autonomous Region's Party Committee, between 2002 and 2023.
He allegedly used these positions to grant favors in financing and loans, land sales, business operations and personnel appointments to various individuals and companies.
Dong pleaded guilty. Sentencing will be announced at a later date, the court said.
Background: Domestic media reported in August that Dong had been removed from his position as a deputy to the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature, after he fell under a corruption investigation the previous month.
The downfall of Dong kickstarted an earthquake in Shanghai’s officialdom with several senior officials and state enterprise executives targeted by graft busters. Caixin learned that investigators linked Dong’s case with the investigation into Xiao Xing, former deputy general manager of state-owned China Taiping Insurance Group Ltd., Cheng Feng, former deputy general manager of Shanghai United Media Group, and Lin Zhen, chairman of Shanghai Industrial’s financial leasing unit.
Dong served as the chairman of Shanghai’s top political advisory body — the People’s Political Consultative Conference — for five years, before being appointed to head the municipality’s people’s congress in January 2023.
With a strong academic background, Dong is known as one of the earliest scholars in China to focus on human rights. He had written a series of articles on the topic since the 1990s.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
