What’s new: Li Guohua, who had headed one of China's biggest telecom carriers and a major state-owned bank, has pleaded guilty to taking over 66 million yuan ($9 million) in bribes, appearing in court more than three years into his retirement.
Li stood trial Thursday in Qingdao, Shandong province, facing charges including bribery and abuse of power. The 63-year-old was placed under investigation in February 2022, nearly two years after he retired as general manager of China United Network Communications Group Co. Ltd. (China Unicom), one of the country’s three biggest state telecom carriers.
Li, a postal system veteran before joining China Unicom, had used his influence as senior postal industry regulator since 1998 to take over 66.5-million-yuan bribes in exchange for business and promotion favors for others, prosecutors said.
He abused his power when he served as deputy head of the State Post Bureau and director of the post authority in Jiangxi province, causing a loss of state assets of nearly 50 million yuan, prosecutors also said.
Sentencing will be delivered at a later date, the court said.
Background: Li, a Jiangxi native, spent his early career in the province’s postal system. In 2005, he was promoted to deputy chief of the State Post Bureau. The next year, he became the deputy general manager of China Post Group Corp, the state-owned enterprise operating the official postal service of China.
In 2011, Li rose to the general manager of China Post Group. And in January 2012, Li was appointed as chairman of the Postal Savings Bank of China Co. Ltd. (PSBC), a subsidiary of China Post Group.
In July 2018, Li left China Post Group and joined China Unicom as general manager. The movement was in effect a demotion after the authorities learned of Li’s suspected wrongdoings, sources said. When he moved to China Unicom, there were already rumors in the industry saying that Li would be put under investigation, a manager at one of the company’s provincial branches said.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
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