Former vice-chairman of Guangxi sentenced to 15 years for bribery

Liu Hongwu, former vice-chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region government, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for bribery, according to a statement from the First Intermediate People's Court of Hainan province on Friday.

According to the first-instance verdict from the court, Liu took advantage of his government positions, including deputy mayor of Beihai and Hezhou, director of the Development and Reform Commission of Guangxi, and vice-chairman of the region government, from 2005 to 2022. He used these positions to assist individuals and organizations in project contracting, land development projects, and obtaining special subsidy funds.

He, directly or through others, illegally accepted money and valuables from them worth over 83.73 million yuan ($11.77 million). The 57-year-old was also fined 6 million yuan. The illegally acquired assets and their interests were confiscated according to the law and handed over to the national treasury, the court added.

During the investigation, Liu voluntarily confessed to bribery crimes known and unknown to the supervisory authorities. He pleaded guilty and expressed remorse. Given that a significant portion of the proceeds has been recovered, a lenient punishment can be considered in accordance with the law, it said.

Born in Hubei province, Liu started working in 1989 and joined the Communist Party of China in 1997. He served as vice-chairman of Guangxi from July 2020 to January 2022. In January 2022, he was placed under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.