Five local officials face charges of bribery

BEIJING - Five local-level officials are being investigated or are awaiting trial over charges of graft, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said in a statement Tuesday.

Liu Wanqing, former deputy director of the Department of Civil Affairs of Hebei province, was arrested for accepting bribes and is the subject of a criminal investigation.

Li Xiaodong, assistant president of the Fujian Provincial Branch of the Bank of Communications, is under investigation and has been placed under "coercive measures" for accepting bribes.

According to the Criminal Procedure Law, coercive measures include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention and arrest. The SPP did not specify what measures had been taken.

Three other officials have been charged with graft. They are Wang Qiang, former deputy general manager of the Jiangsu branch of the Sinopec Chemical Commercial Holding Co. Ltd.; Ke Zhimin, head of the economic development bureau of Xiamen city government; and Huang Fuming, former vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Fangchenggang City Committee in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.