Zhou Jiangyong at court in Chuzhou, East China's Anhui Province on April 27, 2023. Photo: CCTV

Zhou Jiangyong, former Party chief of Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province, is accused of taking advantage of his position to receive bribes, directly or through his relatives, totaling more than 193 million yuan ($28 million). The prosecutorial authority is seeking to hold Zhou criminally responsible for the crime of accepting bribery.

The People's Procuratorate in Chuzhou, East China's Anhui Province, revealed that over the past 20 years from 2001 to 2021, Zhou has been making use of his positions from a county head to Party chief of Hangzhou to provide assistance to relevant businesses and individuals in matters such as construction projects, contracting, land acquisition, among other commercial favors. 

During the process, he had illegally received properties, directly or through his family, totaling more than 193 million yuan ($28 million) in equivalence. 

During the trial, Zhou pleaded guilty in court. A verdict will be delivered at a later date.

Zhou was put under both disciplinary and supervisory investigations by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Supervisory Commission in August 2021, and was expelled from the Party and public office for violating laws and disciplines in January 2022.

The CCDI said the former official ignored the spirit of the central government, colluded with the capital, and supported disorderly expansion of capital. He also violated rules by interfering in the market economy and engaging in corrupt activities with his family members.

China has been strengthening efforts to tackle corruption and other types of disciplinary violations. China's top anti-corruption watchdog has filed 138,000 cases and punished 111,000 individuals across the country in the first quarter of the year. Among them, one official was formerly ranked at the ministerial level, and 633 were at the bureau level.

Global Times