China to prosecute top official for graft

A former top official accused of taking bribes in return for government positions is under criminal investigation, Chinese prosecutors said Tuesday, a day after he was expelled from the ruling Communist party and stripped of all government positions. 

Su Rong is the latest senior figure to fall in President Xi Jinping's widening anti-corruption campaign. Independent economist Andy Xie Guozhong has told Al Jazeera graft costs China 10 percent of its gross domestic product annually.

Xi has warned that rampant corruption, if unaddressed, threatens the party's rule. About 70 high-ranking officials have been implicated in Xi's campaign, speaking not only to the severity of corruption but also the determination of Xi's administration to root out the problem.

Su, 66, came under investigation last year when he was still serving as vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress, which makes his ouster remarkable.

Before he took the national position, Su had served as the provincial party chief for three provinces — Qinghai, Gansu and Jiangxi. That position has more power than that of a provincial governor.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Party's top watchdog agency, said Monday in a written statement that Su violated party disciplines by altering decisions arbitrarily. The commission said Su abused his power over personnel appointments and the operation of unidentified companies and took "an enormous amount of bribes." 

He "abused his power and caused great losses to state assets," it said in a statement, without providing details.

"As a senior party official, Su Rong disregarded the party's political rules ... wantonly sold ranks and titles, led the official ranks astray and damaged the atmosphere in society," the statement said.

His influence was "abominable" and he had been officially stripped of his title and expelled from the party, the commission's statement said.

The statement said the party has handed his case over to judicial authorities. They are likely to indict Su on charges of taking bribes and abusing public power.

In a separate statement, China's top prosecutor, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said two former senior provincial leaders would face trial for graft.

Shen Peiping, former vice governor of southwestern Yunnan province, and Guo Youming, former vice governor of central Hubei province, are both facing charges of taking bribes and abusing their positions, the prosecutor said.

Wire services