3 officials are prosecuted; another arrested for graft

Three senior officials were officially charged and another was formally arrested on charges of corruption, prosecuting authorities said on Tuesday.

The arrest of Nur Bekri, former head of the National Energy Administration, was approved by the Supreme People's Procuratorate after he was investigated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.

The SPP did not release details about the case but said further investigation is underway.

A previous investigation found that Nur Bekri, who once served as deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission and chairman of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, used his positions to help others with employment promotions, operations of enterprises and exploitation of mineral resources, and then received bribes himself or through relatives.

Also on Tuesday, Wu Zhen, Li Shixiang and Jin Suidong were charged with corruption-related crimes by prosecutors in Sichuan, Jilin and Shandong provinces, respectively, according to the SPP.

Sichuan prosecutors said Wu, former deputy director of the China Food and Drug Administration, engaged in bribery and abuse of power, and took the charges to the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court.

Wu was accused of malpractice and abusing power while serving as deputy head of the China Food and Drug Administration; he also took advantage of previous positions, including head of the drug management bureau under the Jiangxi provincial Health Commission, to secure profits for others and accepted huge bribes in return, prosecutors said.

Li Shixiang, former vice-chairman of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Jin Suidong, former vice-chairman of the Henan Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, the local political advisory body, were charged with bribery.

Li was found helping others gain profits and illegally receiving huge bribes by taking advantage of his positions, including head of Beijing's Chaoyang district, vice-mayor of Beijing and vice-chairman of the municipal committee of the CPPCC, Jilin prosecutors said.

Jin was found taking large bribes after making use of his work positions to benefit others. He had been vice-chairman of the Henan Provincial Committee of the CPPCC and mayor of Anyang, Henan, the prosecutors from Shandong province said.

The two accusations were taken to intermediate people's courts in Changchun, Jilin province, and Jinan, Shandong province.

Separately, Liu Zhonghe, who served as head of a village in Huanren Man autonomous prefecture, Liaoning province, was suspended from his post after he was exposed by a national judo champion, Ma Duanbin, in March, according to Thepaper.cn.

Ma, whose hometown is in the village, accused Liu on his Weibo account of embezzling public funds.