Harbin former official faces life for corruption, abuse of power

Zhang Mingjie, former director of the Harbin office of the leading group on urban construction, was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking bribes and abuse of power on Wednesday, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The Harbin Intermediate People's Court in Heilongjiang province also deprived Zhang of political rights for life and confiscated all her personal property.

According to the court, from 2009 to 2012, Zhang took advantage of her positions while working in Daoli district, including as deputy director of the district and head of the restructuring leading group, to help individuals and departments get profits, and received cash and property worth nearly 100 million yuan ($15.7 million) in return.

Her behaviors also caused the loss of public property amounting to more than 232 million yuan, according to the court.

Zhang is also the mother of singer-songwriter Qu Wanting, who was born in Harbin and moved to Canada at 16 to study in Vancouver, where she began her musical career.