China to punish senior official for crimes such as graft, violation of family planning law

BEIJING (REUTERS) - China will prosecute a former senior provincial official suspected of crimes such as breaking the strict family planning laws, graft and abuse of power, the government said on Tuesday.

Zhu Mingguo was former head of the top political advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, in the southern export powerhouse province of Guangdong that borders Hong Kong.

The ruling Communist Party's graft-fighting Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said an investigation found he had accepted a "huge amount of bribes" in the selection of officials and management of companies.

He also "seriously violated the family planning policy", it added, without providing details.

China has been easing its one-child policy but many curbs still remain and large fines can be levied on those who break the rules, which officials, in particular, expected to follow rigorously.

Zhu has been expelled from the party and handed to legal authorities for prosecution, the watchdog added.

Two other senior officials elsewhere in China face prosecution on corruption allegations, the commission said in separate statements.

Wang Min, the former Communist Party boss of Jinan city, capital of the northern coastal province of Shandong, has been accused of bribery and abuse of power, it said.

Wang attracted notoriety when an investigation into his activities was first announced in December, after state media said he had vigorously and publicly backed President Xi Jinping's high-profile fight on corruption.

Identical accusations of bribery and abuse of power face the third official, Chen Chuanping, the former party boss in the northern city of Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi, a top coal producing province on the frontlines of Xi's graft fight.

Its party leader was replaced in September amid what a top official called big problems with its "political ecology".

None of the men could be reached for comment.

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