Ex-Party chief of Yunnan accused of taking bribes

Prosecutors in Chengdu, Sichuan province, filed bribery charges with the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court against Qin Guangrong, a former senior national legislator and former Party chief of Yunnan province, China's top prosecuting authority said on Monday.

After an investigation by the National Supervisory Commission, the case was transferred to the Supreme People's Procuratorate for review and prosecution and was then handed over to Chengdu prosecutors, the SPP statement said.

Qin took advantage of his positions-as a member of the Standing Committee of Yunnan Party Committee and as governor and Party chief of Yunnan province-to seek benefits for others in exchange for a lot of property, and he should be held criminally accountable for accepting bribes, Chengdu prosecutors said.

Qin, 69 and retired, gave himself up voluntarily in May and was placed under investigation for serious violations of discipline and law by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.

The anti-graft watchdogs said in an earlier statement the investigation found Qin lost his faith and convictions, abandoned his original aspiration, disobeyed Party principles and was no longer loyal to the Party.

He was engaged in superstitious activities, went to private clubs, accepted vacation trips offered by private enterprises, accepted gifts excessively and intervened in the transfer of mineral resources, the watchdogs said.

The statement also said that Qin's family was corrupt. It added that he did not properly perform his duties as a father and spouse and let his relatives use their posts to seek personal gains.

Media reports have said Qin's surrender in May was related to his son, Qin Ling, former board chairman of Huarong Investment Stock Corporation Limited. Qin Ling was investigated in April last year amid a corruption scandal involving China Huarong Asset Management, one of China's four largest State-run asset management firms that is the parent of Qin's company.

Qin Guangrong was born in 1950 and started his career as a cadre for 18 years in Lingling city, now known as Yongzhou, in Hunan province. He became the Party secretary of Lingling in 1990 and was promoted to Party secretary of Changsha, capital of Hunan, in 1993.

At the age of 44, Qin was elected a member of the Standing Committee of Hunan Party Committee and became a provincial-level official. He was transferred to Yunnan province in 1999 and held various important posts until 2014.

According to a local media report in 2011, Qin once said in a meeting of the Party Standing Committee that "whoever uses my name or the names of my relatives to ask for favor from authorities, even if the favor was practical, I will not do it. I would like all officials, comrades and people from all walks of life to supervise me."

Qin's surrender marked the downfall of two successive Party chiefs in Yunnan. Qin's predecessor, Bai Enpei, appointed Party chief in 2001, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in October 2016 for accepting bribes of 247 million yuan ($36.2 million).

After the reprieve, Bai's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment without possibility of commutation or parole.