SHIJIAZHUANG - Zhang Chunjiang, former deputy general manager of China Mobile,the world's largest mobile operator by subscribers, went on trial Tuesday in a local court in northern Hebei province on charges of taking bribes.

He stands accused of taking 7.46 million yuan ($1.15 million) in bribes between 1994 and 2009 when he served as deputy director of Liaoning Provincial Postal Administration, general manager of China Netcom Group Corporation Limited, and deputy general manager of China Mobile.

He is also accused of acquiring advantages for bribers in their receiving of business contracts and recovering debts.

All his illegal gains have been confiscated.

Zhang Chunjiang has been removed from his official post and expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) for "severe violations of the discipline and the law," the CPC discipline watchdog said in a statement in September 2010.

Tuesday's trial at the Cangzhou Intermediate People's Court of Hebei Province is the first trial in Zhang's case.