Former senior Chinese official jailed for life for graft

[BEIJING] A Chinese court on Tuesday jailed for life a former deputy governor of the province of Shanxi for corruption, state television said, as the government presses on with its crackdown on deeply engrained graft.

The court found that Du Shanxue, who was put under investigation in 2014, abused his position and took bribes worth 80 million yuan (S$16.59 million) between 2003 and 2013, state television said.

Du had also given 100,000 euros to another former senior politician called Ling Zhengce, the report added, without giving details. Ling is the brother of a disgraced one-time aide to former President Hu Jintao. Ling was jailed this month.

Separately, another court sentenced to six and a half years in jail the former Communist Party chief of Shanxi provincial capital Taiyuan, Chen Chuanping, after he was also found guilty of corruption, state television said.

It was not possible to reach legal or family representatives for Du or Chen for comment.

Vice Premier Ma Kai last year described the corruption problem in the northern province of Shanxi as "like a cancer".

As one of China's top coal-producing provinces, its economy boomed on the back of soaring energy demand over the past decade, one of the reasons state media has given for its graft problem.

Since assuming power in late 2012, President Xi Jinping has pursued a relentless campaign against corruption, warning that the problem could threaten the Communist Party's ability to retain power, though some analysts say he is also eliminating rivals.

REUTERS