News from Epoch Times on December 23, 2024: After a trial that lasted over 7 months, the former deputy commander of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, Jiao Xiaoping, was sentenced for bribery, with the amount exceeding 67.43 million yuan (RMB), and given a 14-year prison term.
On December 23, the Fifth Intermediate People’s Court of Chongqing publicly pronounced the verdict in the case of Jiao Xiaoping, former member of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Party Committee and deputy commander, on charges of bribery. Jiao Xiaoping was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the crime of bribery and fined 5 million yuan.
The court stated that from 2000 to 2022, Jiao Xiaoping took advantage of his positions as vice director-level secretary of the Minister’s Office of the Ministry of Finance, director-level official of the International Funding Statistics Department of the Ministry of Finance, deputy director and director of the China Clean Development Mechanism Fund Management Center, and director of the Government and Social Capital Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Finance, to provide assistance in loan approvals, equity acquisitions, and other matters in exchange for a total of over 67.43 million yuan.
In February 2023, Jiao Xiaoping was removed from his positions, investigated in July, and arrested in August. The trial began on May 17 of this year.
The official report on Jiao Xiaoping’s removal stated that he had interfered with the implementation of carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, disregarded the important requirements of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for ecological protection in the Qinling Mountains, supported specific individuals in developing small hydropower in the Qinling region, deviated from central decision-making arrangements, exacerbated hidden government debt risks, and created financial security risks. He illegally received equities, engaged in business activities, held shares in non-listed companies, received compensation for part-time work, pursued benefits for relatives and specific individuals, conducted power-money transactions, used his position to benefit others in loan approvals, debt restructuring, and illegally received substantial amounts of money.
The Communist Party’s mouthpiece, People’s Daily, has previously stated that achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality is a “major strategic decision” made by the CCP with Xi Jinping at its core. Since May 2014, the highest levels of the CCP have ordered the crackdown on illegally built villas in the Qinling Mountains, with Xi Jinping issuing “important instructions” six times on this matter.
Public records show that Jiao Xiaoping, born in July 1966, started working in various departments of the CCP such as the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance, the Office for Purchasing Power of the National Control Social Group, and the World Bank Department from 1989. He later served as deputy director of the PPP Center of the Ministry of Finance, secretary of the Party Committee, and director of the China Clean Development Mechanism Fund Management Center.
In June 2022, Jiao Xiaoping was appointed as a member of the Party Committee of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, deputy commander of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and deputy general manager of China New Construction Group. He was removed from his positions after only 8 months.