1. New laws or regulations
State level: No developments.
Local level (Beijing & Shanghai): No developments.
Communist Party Rules: No developments.
2. Upcoming laws or regulations
No developments.
3. Government Action
(1) It was reported on January 4, 2015 that Xu Meng (“Xu”), the former Party Secretary of Ya’an City, Sichuan Province, had been sentenced by the Intermediate People’s Court of Dazhou City, Sichuan Province to 16 years in prison for taking bribes and abuse of power.
Xu was found guilty during his term in office from May 2009 to November 2013 of accepting, together with his brother, bribes totaling RMB 5.48 million (USD 877,579) in the form of cash, company equity, vehicles, etc. from various enterprise located in Hainan Province and Sichuan Province. In exchange, Xu abused his position to seek illegal benefits in real estate developments for the bribe givers. Xu was given a lighter sentence due to his confession.
(2) It was reported on January 7, 2015 that Lu Zhanglei (“Lu”), the former Chief of the Management Station of Fishery Administration and Fish Ports of Wenchang City, Hainan Province, was sentenced to 12-years’ imprisonment by Hainan No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court for accepting and giving bribes.
Reportedly, in 2006, Lu, together with others, accepted bribes from several individuals totaling RMB 1.89 million (USD 302,891) and sought illegal benefits for the briber givers with respect to the distribution of fishery tools, the annual inspection of fishery vessels, and granting exceptions for fishing during periods of fishing moratorium, etc. To shield against sanction, Lu offered bribes to the then Director of Ocean and Fishery Bureau of Wenchang, Lin Zhitie (“Lin”) at the end of each fishing moratorium from 2007 to 2011. The bribes aggregated to RMB 170,000 (USD 27,244). Lu said at the hearing that he plans to appeal.
(3) On January 12, 2015, Luo Guoqing (“Luo”), a former Member of Communist Party of China (“CPC”) Quanzhou Standing Committee and Party Secretary of Quanzhou, Fujian Province, was sentenced by the Intermediate People’s Court of Longyan City, Fujian Province to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes, and Luo’s personal property valued at RMB 2 million (USD 320,284) was confiscated.
Reportedly, during his term of office from 2005 to 2011, Luo sought illegal benefits for bribe-givers by abusing his position, and accepted bribes amounting to RMB 9.09 million (USD 1.45 million). Luo was given a lighter sentence due to his confession and return of illegal gains.
(4) On January 13, 2015, Zhu Yongguo (“Zhu”), a former Office Chief of Economic and Information Commission of Anhui Province, was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment by the Intermediate People’s Court of Xuancheng City, Anhui Province, with the confiscation of personal property of RMB 750,000 (USD 120,106).
Zhu reportedly solicited and accepted bribes during his term of office up to RMB 5.97 million (USD 956,048), including RMB 5.41 million (USD 866,369), ERU 17,000 (USD 19,465), USD 13,000, shopping cards valued at RMB 290,000 (USD 46,441), and two gold bars of 50 grams and 20 grams respectively.
4. Other
(1) On January 13, 2015, PRC President Xi Jinping (“Xi”) gave a speech related on anti-corruption at the fourth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The speech emphasized that the country holds a “zero-tolerance attitude” towards corruption, and the high pressure on cracking down corruption will be continued. The examination of the leadership of state-owned enterprises, according to Xi, will be further strengthened, and a certain number of important Party rules and regulations will be revised to regulate Party members more efficiently.
(2) According to a press conference held by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on January 19, 2015, since the initiation of certain special actions in October 2014 to pursue job-related criminal suspects who have fled or transferred ill-gotten properties abroad, the nationwide procuratorate organs have captured 49 suspects as of December 31, 2014, among whom 11 are suspected of embezzlement and 31 are suspected of bribery.
5. China-related FCPA Action
No developments.
