The Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by Wang Xuebing, former president of the China Construction Bank (CCB), upholding the ruling made in the first-instance trial that sentenced him to 12 years in jail for taking bribes.

According to the first ruling handed out on Dec. 10, 2003 by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, Wang was guilty of taking bribes worth 1.15 million yuan (US$139,000) during 1993 and 2001.

Wang was also a former president and board chairman of the Bank of China (BOC) and general manager of the BOC New York branch.

The higher people's court said in its ruling that all the bribes had been retrieved by law enforcement departments after Wang was investigated by judicial departments.

Prosecutors and Wang's lawyer were present Wednesday at the court for the suit while close family members of Wang witnessed the judgment.

(People’s Daily January 15, 2004)