Former senior official of Zhejiang given suspended death sentence for graft

HEFEI, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Zhou Jiangyong, a former senior official in east China's Zhejiang Province, was on Tuesday handed a suspended death sentence for accepting bribes in excess of 182 million yuan (around 25.49 million U.S. dollars).

Zhou was formerly a member of the Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and secretary of the CPC Hangzhou Municipal Committee.

The Intermediate People's Court of Chuzhou in east China's Anhui Province sentenced Zhou to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery, revoked his political rights for life and ordered the confiscation of all his property. All his illicit gains will be confiscated and handed over to the state treasury.

The court established that between 2001 and 2021, Zhou took advantage of his various posts in Zhejiang to assist other individuals and units in matters such as project construction and project contracting.

Zhou accepted particularly large sums of bribes, and his actions caused significant losses to the interests of both the state and the people, the court said.

It added that in light of the fact that Zhou has confessed to all of his crimes, showed repentance, and been cooperative in returning his illegal gains, he was granted a lenient sentence.