Former railways official pleads guilty(2)

Yang provided bribes of china, watches and artworks to Zhang, the prosecutors said.

Yang also provided a job for Luo Fei, Zhang's mistress, giving her a 16,000 yuan monthly salary, a car and watches, or a total of 400,000 yuan, prosecutors said.

Many of the companies involved in bribing Zhang were private ones that hoped the transport bureau would use its devices and technology in the construction of high-speed railways, while some of the alleged bribery providers were Zhang's old friends, prosecutors said.

The defendant confirmed accepting bribes, but he told the court that he did not succeed in helping some of the companies "because such technology or equipment from them could not reach our standard, or might bring hazards to the high-speed railway network".

During the trial, Zhang showed guilt over taking bribes, saying he would like to be punished according to the law.

"I studied railways and devoted myself to this industry. At the beginning, as I became the director of the bureau, I was very discreet, but later, especially after I made some achievements, I became careless," he said in his final statement to the court.

"I was proud of being a railway staff member and happy to see the great development of the high-speed railway in our country," he said in a louder voice.

"I made the country's interests and railway construction my priority, but I longed for fame and wealth at the end," he added with a sigh.

Wang Daming and Yang Xiguang, lawyers for the defendant, said Zhang had a good attitude about pleading guilty and asked the court to give Zhang a lighter penalty.

Zhang Zhuting, a professor at the Ministry of Transport's Management College who has watched the series of railway cases, said the central government must pay attention to large transportation construction projects.

"It's the right time to establish an anti-graft system in transportation-related industries, not just the railways," he said.

"What we saw before the trial was that Zhang Shuguang mastered the high-speed railway technology and was the top engineer, but in fact, he was the one with great power who easily became corrupt," he said.

Yi Shenghua, a Beijing lawyer specializing in graft cases, agreed with Zhang but added that it is also important to punish those who offer bribes.

"After all, it's a two-way street, which means both bribery suppliers and receivers should be blamed," he said.