Former official receives 11-year sentence

Xiang Junbo, former chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, was sentenced on Tuesday to 11 years in prison for bribery.

Xiang was also fined 1.5 million yuan ($212,000). He said in court he accepted the judgment and would not appeal. All properties gained from bribery will be handed over to the State treasury.

The Changzhou Intermediate People's Court in Jiangsu province made the ruling on Tuesday. The court said Xiang abused his power while serving in several positions from 2005 to 2017, including vice-governor of the People's Bank of China, Party secretary and head of the Agricultural Bank of China, as well as Party secretary and chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The court said he took advantage of these posts to offer benefits to organizations and individuals in matters such as project contracting, loans, qualification approval and employment and promotion. It said he illegally received gifts and properties worth 18.6 million yuan.

According to the court, Xiang's acts constituted the crime of bribery, and the amount of it was particularly large. Because Xiang surrendered himself to the police, pleaded guilty and willingly returned all ill-gotten gains, he was punished leniently.

Xiang was placed under investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for violating Party discipline in April 2017. In May 2017, the State Council removed him from his position as chairman of the insurance commission, and in September, the discipline watchdog expelled him from the Party for seriously violating Party discipline.

Xiang was prosecuted for bribery in April 2018, and the first trial was in June 2018.