Central environmental inspections launched

Teams involved in China's high-profile central environmental inspection campaign will conduct monthlong inspections in seven provincial-level regions, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said in a news release on Thursday. Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang and Guangdong provinces, the Guangxi Zhuang, Xizang and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, will be covered in the sixth batch of the third round of inspections, it said. The inspections were launched following approval by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, in accordance with regulations on central ecological and environmental protection inspections. Inspection teams are typically led by ministerial-level officials and report to a central leading group headed by a vice-premier of the State Council, the country's Cabinet.

Ex-senior adviser sentenced for bribery

Zhou Xi'an, a former senior political adviser in Anhui province, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes worth about 134 million yuan ($19.6 million), a court in Fujian province said on Thursday. The Zhangzhou Intermediate People's Court also imposed a lifelong deprivation of political rights and confiscation of all personal assets against Zhou, who previously served as vice-chairman of the Anhui Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The court ordered that Zhou's illegal gains and related proceeds already seized be turned over to the State treasury, while the remainder will continue to be recovered. According to the ruling, between 2012 and 2025, Zhou used his previous positions, including mayor of Bazhong in Sichuan province, Party chief of Ziyang in Sichuan, and vice-governor of Anhui, as well as the influence derived from his authority and status, to help certain organizations and individuals in matters such as project contracting, fund allocation and land-use approvals. In return, he illegally accepted money and valuables totaling more than 134 million yuan.

China Daily