The inside story of Zhang Wenxiongs case: Most of the bribes came from businessm

A businessman surnamed Long was accused of bribery in Guangxi recently. His target of bribery—Zhang Wenxiong, former member of the Standing Committee of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and former head of the Propaganda Department, was sentenced to 15 years in prison two months ago.

According to China Court Network, on October 10, the case of Long, who was designated by the Supreme Court to bribe Zhang Wenxiong, was heard in Yangshuo County Court in Guangxi.Prosecutors charged: From 2002 to 2014, Long asked Zhang Wenxiong, then deputy secretary-general of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, secretary of the Hengyang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, and member of the Standing Committee of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, to help him with matters such as contracting engineering projects and transferring the work of relatives., and bribed Zhang Wenxiong several times, totaling 15.77 million yuan.

Zhang Wenxiong was previously sentenced to 15 years in prison for the crime of bribery and the source of a huge amount of property was unknown, of which the amount of bribes determined by the court was more than 23.35 million yuan.This means that more than half of the bribes Zhang Wenxiong accepted came from Long.During the trial on October 10, the public prosecution agency presented relevant evidence, the defendant Long X cross-examined, the prosecution and the defense fully expressed their opinions, the defendant Long X made a final statement, and pleaded guilty and repented in court.Finally, the court announced an adjournment, and the case will be sentenced at an optional date.

Zhang Wenxiong was the first Propaganda Minister of a provincial party committee to be investigated after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. He was dismissed on November 8, 2016.On February 27, 2017, Zhang Wenxiong was expelled from the party and public office, and transferred to the judicial process.In February 2018, designated by the Supreme Procuratorate, the Guilin City Procuratorate filed a public prosecution against Zhang Wenxiong, accusing him of accepting bribes and having a huge amount of property with unknown sources.On April 16, 2018, the Guilin Intermediate Court of Zhang Wenxiong's case was heard in the first instance, and he pleaded guilty and repented in court.

According to the Caixin reporter's investigation, Zhang Wenxiong relied on his power to turn upside down in huge transactions between the government and enterprises, resulting in the loss of major state-owned assets; his family also relied on his shadow to illegally collect money in Huaihua and Hengyang, where he was in power.After Zhang Wenxiong was sacked, in Yueyang, his hometown and the starting point of his official career, a corrupt chain involving sand mining in Dongting Lake and the transfer of huge profits gradually surfaced.Almost all the people in this chain, from enterprises to officials, have entered.A Yueyang city official told Caixin reporter.

On August 16, 2018, the Guilin Intermediate Court made a first-instance judgment.The Guilin Intermediate People's Court found that from 2002 to the first half of 2016, Zhang Wenxiong used his positions as Deputy Secretary-General of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, Secretary of the CPC Huaihua Municipal Committee, Secretary of the CPC Hengyang Municipal Committee, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, and Director of the Propaganda Department.Convenience and the convenient conditions for the formation of authority and status provide assistance for relevant units and individuals in matters such as project contracting, job adjustment, and project development.From the second half of 2004 to June 2016, Zhang Wenxiong directly or through his wife Tu Aifang illegally accepted property from others, equivalent to more than 23.35 million yuan.In addition, Zhang Wenxiong's family property and expenditure obviously exceeded the legal income, and he could not explain the source of the total property equivalent to more than 51.58 million yuan.The court found that Zhang Wenxiong had committed the crime of accepting bribes and the crime of unidentified sources of huge amounts of property. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for both crimes and confiscated personal property of RMB 2 million.

Zhang Wenxiong, 56, is a native of Yueyang, Hunan.In 1982, Zhang Wenxiong graduated from Yueyang Normal School in Hunan Province.After working in the Yueyang City Education Bureau for only two or three years, he was transferred to the Yueyang County Party Committee.In November 1992, Zhang Wenxiong entered the core of political power in Yueyang, serving as a member of the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee and director of the County Party Committee Office.A year and a half later, Zhang Wenxiong left his hometown of Yueyang and was transferred to Changsha, the provincial capital, where he successively served as a deputy department-level cadre, researcher, deputy director, and director in the Comprehensive Research Office of the General Office of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee.In July 1998, Zhang Wenxiong was promoted to deputy director and deputy secretary-general of the General Office of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee.

In March 2006, Zhang Wenxiong, the director of the Policy Research Office of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, was released to Huaihua as a leader.Only one year later, he returned to Changsha and served as the deputy secretary-general (at the departmental level), secretary-general, and director of the general office of the provincial party committee.In the following year, Zhang Wenxiong was released for the second time to Hengyang, an important town in southern Hunan, where he served as the secretary of the municipal party committee.In December 2011, Zhang Wenxiong was transferred back to Changsha and served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of the Working Committee of the Changzhou-Zhuzhou-Tanxi Two-Type Society Experimental Zone, and director of the Management Committee, becoming a senior official at the deputy ministerial level.In August 2015, Zhang Wenxiong served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Minister of the Propaganda Department. In February of the following year, he was elected as the chairman of the Provincial Federation of Social Sciences and the chairman of the Provincial Federation of Social Sciences until his fall.

According to public information, from March 2008 to December 2011, Zhang Wenxiong served as secretary of the Hengyang Municipal Party Committee, and Tong Mingqian and Li Yilong successively succeeded him.With the sacking of Tong Mingqian and Li Yilong, the three Hengyang city party secretaries have all been investigated.