Fu Shifeng, a former provincial president of the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), has gone on trial on corruption charges.

Fu, 66, is accused of illegally approving an 18-million-yuan loan to a real estate company in Zhongshan city in 1994 when he was the ABC Guangdong branch president in exchange for 300,000 Hong Kong dollars in 1995 and 1996.

At the Intermediate People's Court in the provincial capital of Guangzhou on Monday, Fu denied the charges, saying he only received 15,000 Hong Kong dollars, which was spent on business receptions, according to a statement from the court.

Fu worked as the branch president from 1990 to 1997.

The court made no ruling before adjourning on Monday and the trial is expected to resume soon, but the statement gave no exact date.

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2007)