Former provincial vice governor jailed for bribery, abuse of power

NANCHANG, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Zhinan, former vice governor of east China's Fujian Province, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for accepting bribes and abusing his power, a Chinese court announced on Tuesday.

Zhang was also fined 3 million yuan (about 471,000 U.S. dollars), the Intermediate People's Court of Nanchang in east China's Jiangxi Province said in a statement, noting that all illicit gains and accrued interest will be recovered and turned over to the state treasury in accordance with the law.

An investigation found that Zhang had taken advantage of his Party and governmental positions to seek benefits for others in enterprise operations, land-use approvals, and obtaining financial subsidies and bank loans from 1996 to 2019.

In return, Zhang accepted money and gifts worth over 34.3 million yuan, the statement said.

He brought losses of more than 148 million yuan to public assets from 2007 to 2017 as a result of his abuse of power.

The court granted Zhang a lenient sentence according to the law as he confessed to his crimes, informed investigators of crimes committed by others, showed repentance, and surrendered all his illegal gains, according to the statement.