The former deputy head of China’s top planning agency confessed in court yesterday to extensive bribery involving several companies including a Toyota Motor Corp. joint venture, the court said.
Liu Tienan, 59, was sacked as deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), a post that carries ministerial-level status, in May last year. He is one of the highest-profile officials to be prosecuted for corruption since President Xi Jinping launched an anti-graft campaign.
Prosecutors charged Liu and his son, Liu Decheng, with taking 35.6 million yuan ($5.8m) in bribes in dealings with various companies, including the Toyota joint venture, the court said.
The NDRC is a powerful body that sets broad economic policies and approves major investments. Liu was also head of the National Energy Administration regulator. “The oral representation made by the defendant Liu Tienan on the allegations is: I have taken the initiative to confess to the facts of the allegations,” the court said on its microblog as it laid out the charges against Liu.
The closely watched trial in being held in Langfang city in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing.
Liu was sacked after a deputy editor-in-chief of the investigative magazine Caijing posted accusations on his microblog that Liu was involved in illegal activities.
