Corrupt official stands trial in S China

A former senior municipal official in south China's Guangdong province stood trial on Friday in a local court for taking bribes.

Wu Zhanhui, former deputy secretary-general of the Dongguan City committee of the Communist Party of China, was accused of taking bribes totaling 49.7 million yuan (8.08 million US dollars) from an industrial waste treatment station contractor from November 2003 to March 2012, according to the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court.

Wu was head of the Dongguan Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau from late 2003 to early 2007. He used his power to help Lai Hongzhong, manager of a local environmental protection equipment company, in getting a contract, prosecutors said.

The former official was also charged with failing to explain the source of his assets worth 92 million Hong Kong dollars (about 11.8 million US dollars) and 30 million yuan (4.8 million US dollars). Wu spent 92 million Hong Kong dollars buying estate properties in Hong Kong via undergound banks, according to prosecutors.

The court will deliver its verdict on a separate date.