Former senior provincial political advisor stands trial for corruption, abuse of power

NANNING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Yi Pengfei, former vice chairman of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, on Thursday stood trial for taking bribes and abuse of power.

The case was heard by the Intermediate People's Court of Liuzhou in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

According to the Municipal People's Procuratorate of Liuzhou, between 2003 and 2022, Yi took advantage of his various positions in Hunan to assist others in matters such as project contracting, business operation, and fund application. In return, Yi accepted money and valuables worth more than 81.4 million yuan (about 11.5 million U.S. dollars) from 2005 to 2023.

Yi is also charged with breaching relevant regulations on land transfer fees from April 2019 to October 2020, which resulted in over 448 million yuan loss to public property, the procuratorate also stated.

At the court, the prosecutors presented their evidence, which the defendant and his lawyers cross-examined. In Yi's final statement, he pleaded guilty and expressed remorse.

A verdict will be announced in due course.