Xinjiang vice-chair sentenced to 14 years for taking bribes

Ren Hua, former vice-chairwoman of the government of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was sentenced to 14 years for taking bribes totaling 47.15 million yuan ($7.45 million) on Tuesday.

The Suzhou Intermediate People's Court, Jiangsu province, handed down the sentence. It also fined her 4 million yuan and recovered all her crime-tainted properties and cash and turned them over to the State treasury.

Ren made use of her positions, including Party chief of the Department of Culture and the Department of Education of Xinjiang, and head of publicity department of Urumqi, the regional capital, helped units and individuals in project contracting, company operation, bank loans, job arrangement and other aspects.

In return, she accepted properties from these people, totaling 47.15 million yuan.

The court said Ren's behavior constituted the crime of taking bribes. Given that she truthfully confessed her crimes after being investigated and actively returned the stolen money and property involved in the case, the court gave her a lenient punishment. Ren said she would not appeal the sentence.

The 57-year-old from Yantai, Shandong province, joined the Communist Party of China in 1984.

She became the head of the publicity department of Urumqi in March 2003 and served as the vice-chairwoman of the region in January 2018.

Ren was placed under investigation for serious violations of disciplines and the State laws in June 2020 and was expelled from the Party and dismissed from her post in November.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate approved the arrest for her in December 2020 and designated the Suzhou People's Procuratorate to examine the case, which filed a public lawsuit against her in January 2021.

Suzhou Intermediate People's Court first publicly heard the case in July 2021.