Former legislator pleads guilty to graft

Chen Jixing, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes during his trial at the Guilin Intermediate People's Court in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Thursday.

He is the third former vice-chairman of the committee to be brought to trial on such charges this year.

According to the public prosecutor, Chen was found to have illegally accepted money and property valued at more than 278 million yuan ($39.15 million) directly or indirectly from 2002 to 2015.

The defendant took advantage of his positions as director of the Guangdong Department of Finance, Party secretary of Jiangmen city and vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress to help companies and individuals procure real estate projects and land transfers and resolve economic disputes, the prosecutor said, adding that Chen accepted bribes in return.

His graft continued even after he retired, with him raking in more than 1.15 million yuan in money and property by capitalizing on the power of his former positions between 2019 and 2022, the prosecutor said.

Chen also improperly assisted people with loan approvals, project promotions, subsidy applications and other matters by taking advantage of the positions, the prosecutor said.

The procuratorial organ requested that he be held responsible for the crimes of accepting bribes and using his influence to accept bribes.

Chen pleaded guilty and repented in his final statement in court.

More than 40 people, including Chen's relatives, deputies to the Guilin People's Congress, members of the local committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, journalists and people from all walks of life, attended the trial.

In late July, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress Li Chunsheng was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 4 million yuan for accepting bribes by the Chenzhou Intermediate People's Court in Chenzhou, Hunan province.

And earlier this month, another former vice-chairman of the committee, Chen Rugui, received life in prison for taking bribes valued at more than 108 million yuan ($15 million) by the Nanning Intermediate People's Court in Guangxi.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn