Former senior economic planning official sentenced to life in prison

World Today

Liu TienanLiu Tienan (C), a former senior economic planning official, stands trial at the Langfang Intermediate People’s Court in Langfang, north China’s Hebei Province, Dec. 10, 2014.(Xinhua/Langfang Intermediate People’s Court)

A Chinese court sentenced former senior economic planning official Liu Tienan to life imprisonment on Wednesday.

The former vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission and former head of the National Energy Administration was convicted of bribery by the Langfang Intermediate People’s Court in north China’s Hebei Province.

Liu has been stripped of his political rights for life and all personal property and wealth will be confiscated.

The court ruled that Liu had accepted bribes of 35.58 million yuan (about $5.8 million) from 2002 to 2012, personally or through his son Liu Decheng.

He was found guilty of abuse of power by securing profits for four companies, including Nanshan Group, a chemical firm based in east China’s Shandong Province, Zhongjin Petrochemical Co., Ltd. based in east China’s Zhejiang Province, GAC Group in south China’s Guangdong Province and Zhejiang Hengyi Group Co., Ltd. as well as several individuals.

The court confirmed that all the dirty money amassed by Liu had been returned to the state.

Liu’s trial closed in September but it took two months until Wednesday for the court to deliver its verdict.

Liu’s case was unusual because allegations were first leveled against him by a journalist, Luo Changping, then the deputy editor-in-chief of the business magazine Caijing magazine, on his microblog in December 2012.

This story is compiled with information from Xinhua and The Associated Press.