Liu Hongwu, former vice chairman of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 6 million yuan (840,000 U.S. dollars) for bribery on Friday.

According to a public pronouncement made by the First Intermediate People's Court of Hainan Province, Liu's proceeds of crime and interest from bribes were recovered per the law and turned over to the state treasury. Any shortfall will continue to be recovered.

It was found after the trial that from 2005 to 2022, Liu took advantage of his various posts to help relevant entities and individuals in matters such as engineering project contracting, land project development, and obtaining special subsidy funds.

Wu illegally received money from the mentioned entities and individuals directly or through others. The court said the total amount of cash and property given was equivalent to more than 83.73 million.

The First Intermediate People's Court of Hainan Province held that Liu's behavior constituted the crime of accepting bribes. The amount of bribes he accepted was massive, and he should be punished per the law.

Since part of Liu Hongwu's bribery was only an attempted crime, and considering that he truthfully confessed his wrongdoing upon being apprehended, voluntarily disclosed a significant portion of bribery-related facts that supervisory authorities were not aware of, admitted guilt, expressed remorse, and reported the illegal activities of others, he demonstrated meritorious conduct, actively returning ill-gotten gains. The majority of the embezzled funds and property have already been recovered. According to the law, a lenient punishment is deemed appropriate, said the court. 

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