Beijing:
China formally charged former railways minister Liu Zhijun with corruption and abuse of power on Wednesday, state media said, the latest step in a graft investigation into the scandal-plagued railways.
Liu faces either a lengthy jail sentence or possibly death. How severely he is dealt with will be an indicator of how seriously new Chinese President Xi Jinping Xi takes his fight on corruption, one of the pillars of his new administration.
Liu "practiced favouratism and carried out malpractice, misused his power and caused big losses to public property and the interests of the state and the people", the official Xinhua news agency said.
"The second intermediate Beijing court has already accepted the bribery and misuse of power case in accordance with the law and will chose a date for a trial," the news agency said.
"As a worker for the state, Liu Zhijun used his position to help others seek gain, illegally accepted wealth and assets from other people. The numbers involved were huge and the circumstances very serious," Xinhua added.
Liu took huge bribes and misused his position to help the chairman of an investment company get enormous illegal profits, according to previous accusations levelled by state media.
He has not been given a chance to defend himself in public.
China's sprawling railway system has faced numerous problems over the past few years, including heavy debts from funding new high-speed lines, waste and fraud.
The government has pledged to open the rail industry to private investment on an unprecedented scale.
The ministry suffered a big blow to its image when a crash in 2011 between two high-speed trains killed 40 people.
Liu was sacked in February last year for "serious disciplinary violations" and expelled from the Communist Party three months later, in May. He had spearheaded an investment drive into the rail sector over the past decade.
Liu had successfully resisted a merger with the Ministry of Transport six years ago, but China announced in March that the ministry would be merged with the transport ministry.
Xi has made fighting pervasive graft one of the pillars of his new administration, warning the issue threatens the party's rule, though so far appears to have made little progress aside from netting a few lower-level officials.
While Liu's case attracted a lot of attention when it first broke, it has since been overshadowed by a much more salacious scandal involving the former party chief of Chongqing, the ambitious Bo Xilai.
Bo's downfall last year amid lurid accusations of murder and diplomatic intrigue unleashed division and uncertainty months before the party met to formalise a transfer of power to a new generation of leaders.
Liu faces either a lengthy jail sentence or possibly death. How severely he is dealt with will be an indicator of how seriously new Chinese President Xi Jinping Xi takes his fight on corruption, one of the pillars of his new administration.
Liu "practiced favouratism and carried out malpractice, misused his power and caused big losses to public property and the interests of the state and the people", the official Xinhua news agency said.
"The second intermediate Beijing court has already accepted the bribery and misuse of power case in accordance with the law and will chose a date for a trial," the news agency said.
"As a worker for the state, Liu Zhijun used his position to help others seek gain, illegally accepted wealth and assets from other people. The numbers involved were huge and the circumstances very serious," Xinhua added.
Liu took huge bribes and misused his position to help the chairman of an investment company get enormous illegal profits, according to previous accusations levelled by state media.
He has not been given a chance to defend himself in public.
China's sprawling railway system has faced numerous problems over the past few years, including heavy debts from funding new high-speed lines, waste and fraud.
The government has pledged to open the rail industry to private investment on an unprecedented scale.
The ministry suffered a big blow to its image when a crash in 2011 between two high-speed trains killed 40 people.
Liu was sacked in February last year for "serious disciplinary violations" and expelled from the Communist Party three months later, in May. He had spearheaded an investment drive into the rail sector over the past decade.
Liu had successfully resisted a merger with the Ministry of Transport six years ago, but China announced in March that the ministry would be merged with the transport ministry.
Xi has made fighting pervasive graft one of the pillars of his new administration, warning the issue threatens the party's rule, though so far appears to have made little progress aside from netting a few lower-level officials.
While Liu's case attracted a lot of attention when it first broke, it has since been overshadowed by a much more salacious scandal involving the former party chief of Chongqing, the ambitious Bo Xilai.
Bo's downfall last year amid lurid accusations of murder and diplomatic intrigue unleashed division and uncertainty months before the party met to formalise a transfer of power to a new generation of leaders.
© Thomson Reuters 2013
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
