Ex-Hebei legislator gets life in jail

Yang Chongyong, a former senior legislator in Hebei province, was sentenced to life imprisonment, deprivation of political rights for life and forfeiture of all personal property on Thursday by Tianjin's Second Intermediate People's Court for accepting bribes valued at more than 206 million yuan ($32.2 million).

According to the court, Yang, 63, took advantage of his posts as a member of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Committee of the Communist Party of China and vice-governor of Hebei province to provide illegal favors from 2008 to 2016 in construction projects, land use approvals and the establishment of companies. The bribes were paid in cash and gifts.

Yang confessed and expressed remorse, and returned most of the bribes. He also actively provided clues that led to the exposure of other major corruption, which mitigated his sentence, the court said.

Yang had been deputy head of the Hebei People's Congress Standing Committee since 2016. Before that, he had served as vice-governor of the province for eight years.