Former director of Guangxi Transportation Department, Chen Hongqi, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for accepting bribes exceeding 90.31 million RMB.
On November 29, the Intermediate People’s Court of Guilin City in Guangxi publicly announced the verdict of Chen Hongqi, the former Party Secretary and Director of Guangxi Transportation Department, on charges of bribery. Chen Hongqi was sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery and had all his personal assets confiscated.
The court stated that from 2009 to 2022, Chen Hongqi took advantage of his positions as Director of the Safety Production Supervision Administration of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Director of the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau, and Director of the Transportation Department to provide assistance to relevant units and individuals in contract bidding for road projects, water-related projects, insurance brokerage services, etc. He directly or through intermediaries accepted more than 90.31 million RMB in bribes.
Chen Hongqi was investigated in August 2023, expelled from the Party, had his retirement benefits revoked, and was transferred to judicial authorities in September of the same year.
At the time of the report, it was stated that Chen Hongqi was driven by insatiable greed, engaging in rampant corruption and interfering in transportation infrastructure projects. He colluded with others, obstructed investigations, concealed personal matters, abused his position for personal gain, and accepted large sums of money and assets from others.
Public records show that Chen Hongqi was born in 1962, with a postgraduate degree, and had held various positions including Vice Director of the Economic and Trade Commission of the autonomous region, Executive Deputy Commissioner of Hechi Prefecture, Executive Deputy Mayor of Hechi City, Director of the Safety Production Supervision Administration (Coal Mine Safety Supervision Bureau), Director of the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau, among others.
In February 2018, Chen Hongqi was appointed as the Party Secretary and Director of the Transportation Department of the autonomous region, and later also served as the Director of the Railway Construction Office. He was dismissed from the position of Director in November 2021 and from the position of Party Secretary in November 2022, leading up to his investigation.