Ex-senior Sichuan official receives 16-year jail term for corruption

On Wednesday, a former senior provincial legislator of Sichuan province was sentenced to 16 years in jail for taking bribes and abuse of power in Foshan, a Pearl River delta city in South China's Guangdong province.

Wang Minghui, former vice-chairman and deputy Party chief of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress, was also imposed a fine of five million yuan ($714,285). All Wang's bribery payments and interest, plus related illicit money and goods, were confiscated and turned over to the national treasury, according to a verdict passed by Foshan Intermediate People's Court on Wednesday.

Wang was convicted of having siphoned a large sum of bribes valued at more than 52.13 million yuan by taking advantage of his various positions in Sichuan to assist other individuals and entities in matters such as project contracting, business operation and position adjustment, said the verdict.

Wang was once deputy Party secretary of Ziyang city, deputy Party chief and mayor of Neijiang city, deputy secretary-general of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, Party chief of Yibin city, vice-governor of Sichuan and member of the Standing Committee and secretary general of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the CPC between 1998 and 2021, the verdict said.