A top provincial Communist Party politician went on trial for corruption on Thursday, the latest senior Chinese official to face prosecution as part of President Xi Jinping's high-profile anti-graft campaign.
Former vice chief of Sichuan provincial committee of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), Li Chuncheng, stood trial in a court in Xianning City in central China's Hubei Province. Li is close to disgraced Communist Party leader Zhou Yongkang, the highest ranking leader to be indicted for graft. The Xianning Municipal Intermediate People's Court held the public trial of Li.
Li, present in court with his counsel, was prosecuted for accepting bribes and abuse of power. He is regarded as a close associate of Zhou who was charged with similar offences including revealing state secrets by a court in Tianjin city in December. Zhou was a member of the nine-member Standing Committee of the CPC headed by former President Hu Jintao.