Former Shaanxi CPC chief given suspended death sentence for bribery

Zhao Zhengyong, former chief of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and a former senior national legislator, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on Friday at the First Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin Municipality for taking bribes.

The court found that Zhao took advantage of various positions he held between 2003 and 2018 in Shaanxi to benefit certain organizations and individuals in terms of project contracting, job promotion or transfer and other matters.

In return, he accepted money and valuables worth over 717 million yuan (about 102.65 million U.S. dollars), including over 290 million yuan he has not received, said the court.

The court granted him a lenient punishment as he confessed, pleaded guilty and surrendered his illicit money and property, all of which have been seized and frozen, the statement said, adding that the leniency in the ruling also took into consideration the attempted crime of his unreceived assets.

The defendant was deprived of his political rights for life and had all of his personal property confiscated, it said.

After the two-year reprieve, Zhao's death penalty will be commuted to life imprisonment, and no further commutation or parole will be permitted, according to the statement.

Zhao said he accepted the sentence and would not appeal.