A former transport official of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for
corruption and taking bribes, according to a local court.
Liu Kui, former financial chief of the transport bureau of
Guigang City and a local ringroad construction project, and later
deputy head of the bureau, was convicted of embezzling more than
130,000 yuan (US$17,000) between 1997 to 2004.
He was also found guilty of accepting 210,000 yuan (US$28,000)
and a computer in bribes in exchange for granting economic
privileges to bribers, taking advantage of his post, according to
the verdict issued by the Intermediate People's Court of the
city.
Liu's case is the latest in a series of corruption convictions
involving Chinese transport officials. Most of China's transport
infrastructure projects are funded and supervised by local
governments, meaning they must be approved and supervised by
powerful local government officials.
So far, some 20 heads of transport and communication authorities
in China have been convicted of corruption charges.
Last month, Zhao Zhanqi, former transport chief of east China's
Zhejiang Province, was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking
bribes of 6.2 million yuan (US$820,000).
Last year, Wang Xingyao, former transport head of Anhui Province
in east China, was sentenced to ten years in jail for accepting
bribes totaling 135,300 yuan from a construction company.
In December 2006, Lu Wanli, former transport chief of the
southwestern province of Guizhou, was executed after being
convicted of taking more than 25.6 million yuan in bribes from June
1998 to January 2002.
The Chinese government has taken strong measures to step up the
crackdown on corruption and build a clean government. In the past
four years, around 30 deputies to the National People's Congress,
the national legislature, and members of the National Committee of
the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) have
been ousted.
(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2007)