Chinese prosecutors charge former mayor of Nanjing with accepting ‘massive bribes’
Ji Jianye - accused of using his Communist Party and government positions to receive massive bribes - is one of the highest-ranking officials caught in President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive.
A former mayor of China’s major eastern city of Nanjing was charged with corruption today amid a widening anti-graft crackdown.
Ji Jianye is accused of using his Communist Party and government positions to take massive bribes in return for favours, the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The former position of Ji is equivalent to that of a vice-minister, making him one of the highest-ranking officials to be caught in the anti-corruption drive launched after President Xi Jinping was installed as party chief two years ago.
Ji’s official résumé shows that he has spent his entire career climbing the ladder of the party apparatus in relatively wealthy Jiangsu province, of which Nanjing is the capital.
However, Ji’s term as Nanjing mayor, which began in 2009, was marred by controversy – including rare street protests over the mass removal of the city’s beloved plane trees for a subway construction project.
Ji is scheduled to appear in court in the neighbouring province of Shandong, in keeping with the standard practice of forcing high-ranking Chinese officials to stand trial outside the region they once governed to minimise witness tampering or other possible intervention by their loyalists.
He has already been kicked out of the Communist Party, making his conviction all but certain.
