Former Everbright exec pleads guilty

Li Xiaopeng, former chairman of China Everbright Group, a State-owned financial conglomerate, pleaded guilty to taking bribes while standing trial in Daqing, Heilongjiang province, on Monday.

According to an indictment provided by prosecutors, Li, from 1994 to 2021, was found to have taken advantage of his positions, including deputy head of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, general manager of the China Merchants Group and chairman of the China Everbright Group, to seek profits for many departments and individuals in various matters such as mortgage financing, project contracting and work promotion, and then accepted bribes worth more than 60.43 million yuan ($8.48 million) in return.

The prosecutors submitted evidence to the Daqing Intermediate People's Court, saying that Li should be held criminally liable for bribery. During the trial, he confessed to the crime in his final statement.

The verdict will be announced at a later date, the court said.

More than 20 people, including national lawmakers and political advisers, attended the hearing. It was the latest in a series of recent investigations, trials and convictions of former officials involved in the financial sector. The handling of their cases has shown the country's strong determination and continuous efforts to fight against corruption in the industry.

Last week, Wang Yongsheng, former vice-president of China Development Bank, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for taking bribes worth over 23.51 million yuan.

Early this month, Fan Yifei, former vice-governor of the People's Bank of China, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes of more than 386 million yuan.

Tian Huiyu, former president of China Merchants Bank, was given the death penalty with a two-year reprieve for crimes including taking bribes, abuse of power, using undisclosed information for trading, insider trading and leaking insider information in February.

Sun Deshun, former president of China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited, was given a suspended death in November last year for accepting bribes of about 1 billion yuan.

Chinese news outlet Yicai reported in September that at least 53 senior executives who used to be engaged in the financial sector have been placed under investigation since the beginning of this year.