A former Chinese provincial vice governor was executed yesterday for taking more than 5 million yuan (US$600,000) in bribes, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Wang Huaizhong (王懷忠), 57, was put to death using lethal injection in the eastern province of Shandong after the provincial High People's Court rejected his appeal, Xinhua said. He was permitted to say farewell to his family, it said.
State television, on its noon newscast, showed Wang being sentenced in court, wearing a suit and tennis shoes.
The execution comes amid gathering efforts by China's communist leaders to rein in rampant corruption among officials.
Yet while publicizing cases such as Wang's in hopes of scaring other wayward officials, the party has yet to embark on systematic changes that would make it more accountable but could undermine its legitimacy and monopoly on power.
Earlier state media reports said Wang at first attempted to bribe investigators into dropping the case, but then admitted to the charges at his trial.
Wang, who served as vice governor of Anhui province from 1994 to 2001, was sentenced to death in December for taking bribes worth 5.17 million yuan (US$633,000) and possessing 4.8 million yuan (US$585,000) in assets for which he could not account.
Reports did not say what favors Wang granted for the bribes, but such payments are usually made in return for jobs, contracts and assets.
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