Tang Yijun, former minister of justice, has been prosecuted for suspected bribery, China's top procuratorate announced on Saturday.

Prosecutors in Xiamen, Fujian province, filed the prosecution with the city's intermediate people's court, according to an announcement released by the Supreme People's Procuratorate on its official website.

In reviewing the case, Xiamen prosecutors interrogated Tang, informed him of his litigation rights and heard the opinions of his defense lawyer, the SPP said.

The indictment revealed that Tang used his various official positions, including governor of Liaoning province and Party chief of Ningbo in Zhejiang province, to seek benefits for others and accepted huge amounts of bribes in return. The prosecutors concluded that Tang should be held criminally liable for bribery.

Tang, 63, a native of Shandong province, began his career in July 1977 and joined the Communist Party of China in October 1985.

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He held several positions in Zhejiang province before moving to Liaoning in 2017 to serve as acting governor. In early 2023, he was elected chairman of the CPPCC's Jiangxi Provincial Committee. Before taking up his position in Jiangxi, he served as minister of justice.

Tang was placed under disciplinary and supervisory investigation in April and was expelled from the Party and removed from his public office six months later.

An anti-corruption documentary aired early this year exposed that Tang used companies controlled by his wife to cover up his corrupt activities, presenting them as legitimate market operations.

Former stock exchange exec removed from CPC, public office

Dong Guoqun, former deputy general manager of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and dismissed from public office over severe violations of Party discipline and laws, China's top anti-corruption watchdogs said on Saturday.

The decision was made by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision following their investigation.

While resisting the commissions' investigation, Dong colluded with others to fabricate testimony, and transferred and concealed illicit gains, according to the commissions.

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Dong frequently visited private clubs and repeatedly accepted banquets arranged by individuals under his management, the commissions said in a statement. Despite prior disciplinary actions for accepting golf-related activities, Dong showed no remorse for his actions.

The commissions further found that Dong accepted expensive gifts and high-value consumption cards. He was also discovered to have borrowed multiple individuals' securities accounts for stock trading over an extended period and illegally held shares in several pre-IPO companies.

Moreover, he arranged for others to conceal his illicit activities.

Additionally, Dong used his positions to seek benefits for others in exchange for large sums of equity, cash and other properties. These benefits were tied to matters such as company listings, corporate supervision, large-scale fund deposits and construction projects.

As a result of his severe violations, the commissions decided to expel Dong from the CPC, remove him from public office and had his illicit gains confiscated.

The statement added that the clues of Dong's suspected crimes, along with the illicit gains, will be transferred to prosecutors for further review and investigation.