Ex-N China official pleads guilty to accepting millions in bribes

Ma Ming, the former vice-chairman of the Inner Mongolia regional committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, pleaded guilty to the charges of accepting bribes worth over 157.85 million yuan ($24.65 million), while standing trial at a court in Shandong province on Thursday.

Ma was charged by the Intermediate People's Court of Zibo City of receiving bribes for taking advantage of his job positions between 2000 and 2019 to seek profits for others in company operation, job promotion and loan granting.

According to the court, between 2000 and 2019, Ma's job position included the vice-governor of Northeast China's Jilin province, the former vice-chairman of Inner Mongolia regional committee of the CPPCC and the heads of the public security departments in both Jilin and Inner Mongolia.

Ma has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and dismissed from public office after the country's anti-graft body found he had seriously violated Party discipline and laws in November last year.

The sentence will be handed down later, the court said.