Former Chongqing political advisor sentenced to life for bribery

Duan Chenggang, former vice-chairman of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday for taking bribes worth more than 144 million yuan ($21.3 million), Xinhua News Agency reported.

At the same time, Duan was deprived of political rights for life, and all his personal assets were also confiscated, according to the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court in southern China's Guangdong province.

In addition, his illicit gains and relevant interests were ordered to be turned over to the State treasury, according to the first-instance verdict.

The court found that between the latter half of 2003 and March 2025, Duan took advantage of his various positions in Chongqing to assist organizations and individuals with business operations, project advancement and project contracting.

His former posts included deputy head of Jiangbei district, head of Ba'nan district, Party secretary of Yubei district, and director of the administrative committee of Chongqing Liangjiang New Area.

In return, he illegally accepted money and valuables worth more than 144 million yuan, the court said.

The court ruled that Duan's behavior constituted the crime of accepting bribes, noting that the amount involved was extremely large.

Given that some of his bribery attempts were unsuccessful, and he truthfully confessed his crime and voluntarily disclosed most of his bribes that investigators had not been aware of after being apprehended, the court decided to leniently punish him, it added.

Duan told the intermediate court that he accepted the result and will not appeal to a higher court.

The court publicly heard the case on April 23, with 30 people from all walks of life attending the trial.