Hou Wujie, former deputy secretary of the Shanxi provincial committee of the Communist Party of China, has been sentenced to 11 years in jail for taking bribes.

According to a document of the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, Hou illegally took more than 880,000 yuan (about US$110,000) worth of money and property from others and sought gains for them.

The court ruling said that when serving as secretary of the Taiyuan city Party Committee in the year 2000, Hou Wujie accepted bribes including US$100,000 and a Patek Philippe watch worth 50,000 HK dollars from Shao Jianwei who wanted to be promoted from deputy director to director of the Taiyuan public security bureau.

The court ruling said Hou confessed and returned all the illicit money and goods.

The judges held that Hou, in his capacity as a civil servant, was guilty of accepting bribes in return for using influence and should be sentenced according to the law. Taking into account the fact that Hou had confessed his crimes and returned all the bribes, he would be given a relatively lenient punishment.

Several provincial and ministerial level officials have been sentenced or removed from their posts for corruption, abuse of office or other violations in 2006.

In April, Li Dachang, former vice governor of southwest China's Sichuan Province, was sentenced to seven-years in prison abusing his power.

On Aug. 25, He Minxu, vice governor of east China's Anhui Province was removed from office by the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress. He is under investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

On Aug. 27, China's top legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) approved the expulsion of Li Baojin, procurator-general of Tianjin municipality for "severe breach of trust".

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2006)