1. New law or regulation
State level: No developments.
Local level (Beijing & Shanghai): No developments.
Communist Party Rules: No developments.
2. Upcoming law or regulation
No developments.
3. Government Action
(1) On November 4, 2014, Yang Xianjing (“Yang”), the former Inspector of the Department of Land and Resources of Anhui Province, was sentenced by the Intermediate People’s Court of Bengbu City, Anhui Province to life in prison for abuse of power and taking bribes, with confiscation of all his personal property.
Yang was accused of taking advantage of his position from 2007 to 2011, illegally separating, renewing, and transferring the exploration rights of several mines, causing the state to suffer economic losses exceeding RMB 189,000 (USD 30,696). Yang was also found guilty of accepting and soliciting during his term in office from 2003 to 2012 bribes totaling RMB 16.53 million (USD 2.68 million) and HKD 300,000 (USD 38,703), and seeking illegal benefits in the auction of exploration rights. After Yang’s retirement in the second half of 2012, Yang was found to have taken advantage of his former position to assist unlawfully a real estate developer with approvals for construction, and accepting RMB 300,000 (USD 48,725) in return. Yang said that he would appeal.
(2) On November 16, 2014, Yan Xiuyun (“Yan”), the former Chief of Department of Oncology of Liang Xiang Hospital in Fangshan District, Beijing, was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison for taking bribes by the No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court in her second trial.
Yan was charged with receiving kickbacks totaling RMB 730,000 (USD 118,564) from July 2007 to September 2012 from a medical representative of Shanxi Zhendong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. surnamed Wei (“Wei”). In exchange, Yan dramatically increased the purchase of medicine from Wei. Wei was separately sentenced to one year and eight months in prison for offering bribes.
(3) On November 20, 2014, Ma Ji (“Ma”), the former Chairman of the Supervisory Board for Key State-Owned Enterprises of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, was sentenced to 9 years in prison for accepting bribes by the Intermediate People’s Court of Shizuishan City.
Ma was found to have accepted during his term in office from 2001 to April 2013 RMB 2.82 million (USD 458,015) in the form of cash and real estate. Ma was given a reduced sentence reflecting his confession and return of illegal gains.
(4) On November 22, 2014, Feng Kangrui (“Feng”) was sentenced to life imprisonment for embezzlement by the Intermediate People’s Court of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province. Feng had served as the former General Manager of Zhejiang Zhongsheng Industry Co., Ltd. (“Zhongsheng”) and Wenzhou Zhongrui Real Estate Co., Ltd. and former Chairman of Wenzhou Zhongchen Industry Co., Ltd. (“Zhongchen”), all of which are state-owned enterprises.
Reportedly, from 2007 to 2008, Feng, together with Wang Xin and his son Feng Ju, illegally embezzled the use rights of state-owned land of Zhongchen valued at RMB 4.78 million (USD 776,352). In October 2012, Feng, together with Wang Liping, Ren Linxian, and Feng’s other son, Feng Yi, embezzled RMB 30 million (USD 4.87 million) from Zhongsheng, taking advantage of Feng’s position with the company. All of the above co-conspirators have been sentenced to 8 – 15 years in prison, except for Feng Ju, who will be sentenced separately due to an illness.
(5) It was reported on November 26, 2014 that Tai Jianfeng (“Tai”), the former Director of Jinpai Urban Credit Cooperative of Lingao County, Hainan Province (the “Credit Cooperative”), had been sentenced by the No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court of Hainan Province to 18 years in prison for embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds. All his personal property was confiscated.
Tai was found to have misappropriated on various occasions the Credit Cooperative’s funds amounting to RMB 49.09 million (USD 7.97 million) by abusing his position from 1997 to 2001. Tai also collected personally but in the name of the Credit Cooperative more than RMB 3.51 million (USD 570,082). Tai absconded on August 3, 2001 and did not surrender to police until April 21, 2013.
4. Other
(1) On November 9, 2014, the Ministerial Meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC”) adopted the Beijing Anti-corruption Proclamation (the “Proclamation”), which aims to establish a cooperative network for anti-corruption enforcement and joint crackdown on corruption among the APEC countries. APEC members include the United States, Australia, Canada, Russia, and China. The Proclamation was intended by its authors to strengthen information sharing and judicial cooperation among the countries and increase the efficiency of investigations and recovery in connection with bribery, corruption, and money-laundry crimes.
(2) On November 18, 2014, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (“CCDI”) of the Communist Party of China announced that CCDI would initiate the third round of inspections by CCDI this year, dispatching 13 teams to conduct inspections into 13 entities, among which 8 entities are state-owned enterprises controlled directly by the central government (the “SOEs”).
5. China-related FCPA Action
No developments.
