Former senior Beijing political advisor jailed for 9 years for graft

TIANJIN -- Li Wei, the former vice chairperson of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), was sentenced to nine years in prison Friday for taking bribes.

Li was found to have taken bribes worth over 32.96 million yuan (about $5.18 million), according to a statement by the Second Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin.

Li was also fined 1 million yuan and his illegal gains will be turned over to the state treasury, the court statement said.

The court found that Li took advantage of his various former positions in Beijing to benefit others in real-estate development and coal transactions between July 2001 and October 2019.

The court granted Li a lenient sentence according to the law as he had confessed to his crimes, showed repentance, informed the investigators of serious crimes committed by others, and all his illegal gains have been recovered, according to the statement.