Ex-senior Chinese official and ally of detained security tsar Zhou Yongkang goes on trial
Li Chuncheng, 58, who was deputy party chief in Sichuan province, has been charged with accepting bribes and abuse of power
A former deputy provincial party chief and close ally of disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang went on trial yesterday charged with accepting bribes and abuse of power, Xinhua reported.
The Xianning Intermediate People's Court, in Hubei province, was told that Li Chuncheng, 58, Sichuan's former deputy Communist Party boss, took about 40 million yuan (about HK$50 million) in bribes between 1999 and 2012, either directly or through his wife.
Li was accused of abusing his powers on Zhou's orders when he was Chengdu mayor between September 2001 and July 2011, granting favours that led to the loss of public assets. The hearing was adjourned and sentencing would take place later, Xinhua reported, saying prosecutors had asked for leniency as Li had pleaded guilty.
Li was the first provincial level official to fall under President Xi Jinping's sweeping anti-graft campaign. He was put under investigation for breaching party discipline - a euphemism for corruption - in December 2012.
He was stripped of his titles and expelled from the party in April last year. Hubei prosecutors formally charged him last month. Li was transferred to Sichuan, Zhou's former power base, in 1998 when he was appointed vice-mayor of Chengdu.
Zhou was Sichuan's party chief from 1999 to 2002.