Former vice minister of industry, commerce jailed for graft

JINAN - Sun Hongzhi, former vice minister of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce, was sentenced Friday to 18 years in prison for corruption.

Taian Intermediate People's Court in east China's Shandong Province charged Sun with accepting bribes, embezzlement of public funds and holding a huge amount of property from unidentified sources.

The court imposed a fine of 3.6 million yuan (around 526,000 U.S. dollars) on Sun, and ordered that all his illicit gains, which included the skins of a tiger and a leopard, be confiscated and turned over to the national treasury.

The court also required that all public funds he embezzled be returned to the government of Songyuan City in northeast China's Jilin Province.

Sun took advantage of his various official posts from 2002 to 2014 to seek benefits for entities and individuals in obtaining loans, contracts and promotions, and accepted cash and property worth over 14.2 million yuan either himself or through his wife, according to the court.

When he served as mayor of Songyuan City from 2009 to November 2014, Sun embezzled public funds of more than 1.64 million yuan, according to the verdict. He also held property worth over 9.53 million yuan with unidentified sources.

The court showed leniency, taking into consideration his confession, remorse and the fact that he voluntarily turned over some ill-gotten gains.