Former senior inspector sentenced to 12 years for bribery

Xu Chuanzhi, a former deputy ministerial-level inspector with the inspection team of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday for bribery-related crimes, according to the Ningbo Intermediate People's Court in Zhejiang province.

Xu was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison and fined 1 million yuan ($149,207) for accepting bribes. He was also sentenced to five years in prison and fined 1.5 million yuan for using his influence to accept bribes, according to the court.

The court combined the sentences and imposed a final sentence of 12 years in prison and a fine of 2.5 million yuan. Xu's illicit gains and the related proceeds were confiscated and turned over to the State treasury, the ruling said.

According to the ruling, from 2001 to 2023, Xu took advantage of his positions in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region and the inspection team of the CPC Central Committee to seek benefits for individuals and organizations in matters including project contracting, case handling and job adjustments. In return, he accepted bribes totaling more than 10.72 million yuan.

Xu retired in 2023. From the second half of 2023 to 2025, Xu used his work-related influence to help organizations and individuals secure project contracts and accepted bribes totaling more than 25.87 million yuan.

The court said Xu should be severely punished because his conduct constituted the crimes of accepting bribes and using influence to accept bribes. However, it said it had given him a lenient sentence because he confessed to his crimes, voluntarily reported most of the bribery-related facts that investigators had not yet uncovered, turned himself in and actively returned his illicit gains.

Xu, 69, a native of Shandong province, began his career in September 1975 and joined the CPC in August 1978. He spent decades working in the country's disciplinary and supervisory system.

In 2016, Xu became secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. In 2019, he became a deputy ministerial-level inspector with the inspection team of the CPC Central Committee and led the first inspection group of the 19th CPC Central Committee in inspections of departments including the Ministry of Public Security and the National Immigration Administration.

Xu was placed under investigation in October 2025 and expelled from the Party in January this year.

He was indicted in May on charges of accepting bribes and using influence to accept bribes. The court publicly heard his case in July, when Xu pleaded guilty to the crimes.