Former Nanjing Museum senior official sentenced to three years in prison

Xu Huping, a former senior official at the Nanjing Museum, has been sentenced to three years in prison for taking bribes and fined 200,000 yuan ($29,800), Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Xu illegally accepted money and property while serving as executive vice-director and director of the museum. In return, he used his position to help certain parties secure project contracts and facilitate business cooperation.

Previously, following an investigation into the mismanagement of donated artifacts at the museum, Xu was expelled from the Communist Party of China and had his benefits revoked in accordance with regulations, discipline and law.

Other relevant officials from the original Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture, the Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau, the Nanjing Museum and the original Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Store were also held accountable for failing to properly fulfill their duties or for inadequate oversight of law enforcement and were found to bear direct responsibility for the unauthorized transfer and sale of calligraphy and paintings.

The disciplinary actions imposed on them included expulsion, dismissal, demotion, serious warning within the Party, reassignment, and criticism and education.

The Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau, and the Nanjing Museum have submitted profound self-criticisms to the provincial Party committee and government.

They are carrying out a province-wide special campaign to improve the safety management of cultural relics in State-owned museums, while improving and refining cultural relics management systems.