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 October 14, 2016 that Li Jie (“Li”), the former Deputy Mayor of Haikou City, Hainan Province, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for bribery-taking and fined RMB 1.6 million (USD 236,258) by the No.2 Intermediate People’s Court of Hainan Province.

The court found that from 2004 to 2015, Li accepted from 8 companies and 23 individuals various kinds of properties including cash totaling RMB 9 million (USD 1.32 million) and two bars of gold valuing RMB 19,000 (USD 2,805) (as of the valuation date) in exchange for taking advantage of his positions as the Director of the Road Transport Bureau of Haikou City, the Governor of Meilan District, Haikou City, the Secretary of Meilan District, and the Deputy Mayor of Haikou City in engineering projects, tendering and bidding projects, and project management.

(2) On October 14, 2016, Jin Daoming (“Jin”), the former Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of Shanxi Province, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Intermediate People’s Court of Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province for taking bribes, plus deprivation of political rights for life and confiscation of all his personal properties.

From 2007 to 2014, Jin was alleged to seek illegal benefits for others in such matters as coal mine resources integration, position promotion, and disciplinary investigation by taking advantage of his positions as the Member and Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee as well as the Secretary of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission. In return, Jin illegally accepted from others properties valuing RMB 123 million (USD 18.16 million).

(3) On October 17, 2016, Wei Pengyuan (“Wei”), the former Deputy Director of the Coal Division under National Energy Administration, was sentenced by the Intermediate People’s Court of Baoding City, Hebei Province to death with 2 years’ suspension of execution, plus deprivation of political rights for life for taking bribes and holding large amounts of property from unidentified sources. Wei will not be allowed to apply for any commutation of sentence or parole.

Reportedly, during his term in office from 2000 to 2014, Wei took advantage of his positions to seek benefits for others during the review and approval of coal projects, expert reviews, project contracting, collection of payment for goods, and sales promotion of equipment. In return, Wei illegally accepted properties valued around RMB 212 million (USD 31.3 million). Wei also held large amounts of property largely exceeding his legitimate income with no explainable sources.

(4) On October 18, 2016, Feng Zhiming (“Feng”), a former Member and Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau in Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was sentenced by the Intermediate People’s Court of Hohhot City to 18 years in prison and fined RMB 1.1 million (USD 162,427) for bribe-taking, holding large amount of properties from unidentified sources, illegal possession of a gun and/or ammunition, and embezzlement.

Feng was found guilty of taking advantage of his positions to seek illegal benefits for 13 companies or individuals from 2008 to 2014. In addition, Feng, conspired with his wife, purchased real estate at a price significantly lower than the market price, and sold them to others at a price significantly higher than the market price. The value of the bribes accepted by Feng was over RMB 3.89 million (USD 574,402) in total. Feng was given a lighter sentence due to his confession.

(5) On October 21, 2016, Lin Cunde (“Lin”), the former Deputy Director of Organization Department of Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, was sentenced by the Intermediate People’s Court of Dongguan City, Guangdong Province for taking bribes to life imprisonment, plus deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all his personal properties.

The court found that during his term of office in the Organization Department, Lin took advantage of his position and sought benefits for others in position appointment and promotion, project contracting, and arranging for admission to schools despite insufficient qualifications. The amount of bribes accepted by Lin exceeded RMB 24 million (USD 3.54 million).

4. Other

None.