Former vice governor of Shaanxi Province indicted for bribery

BEIJING - Chen Guoqiang, former vice governor of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, has been indicted on charges of taking bribes, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Thursday.

Chen was accused of taking advantage of his former positions in Shaanxi to seek profits for others or using his power and status to seek illegitimate interests for others through other officials' work and accepting vast sums of money and gifts in return, the SPP said in a statement.

His case was handed over to the first branch of the Tianjin Municipal People's Procuratorate for review and prosecution upon the designation of the SPP after the National Supervisory Commission concluded the investigation, it said.

Chen will stand trial in the First Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin, it added.

The SPP said the prosecutors had informed the defendant of his litigation rights, interrogated him and listened to the defense counsel's opinions.