Former Hebei official indicted for graft

BEIJING - Jing Chunhua, a former senior official in North China's Hebei province, has been indicted for taking bribes, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said on Monday.

The SPP designated Changchun Municipal People's Procuratorate in Jilin province to initiate the prosecution at Changchun Intermediate People's Court.

Jing is also charged with holding a large amount of property which he could not account for.

Prosecutors have informed Jing of his litigation rights, questioned the defendant, and listened to representations from his lawyer, according to a statement from the SPP.

According to the indictment, Jing took advantage of his posts to seek benefits for individuals and illegally accepted a huge amount of property from them. His property and expenditure obviously exceeded his legal income, and he could not explain how he came by the money.

Jing is alleged to have committed these crimes through the years while he had been deputy Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of Chengde city, mayor of Chengde city, Party chief of Hengshui city, and standing committee member and secretary general of the CPC provincial committee of Hebei, .

Jing was put under investigation for "suspected serious discipline and law violations" by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in March 2015.