Former Hangzhou chief indicted on graft charges

Zhou Jiangyong, former Party secretary of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, has been indicted on charges of graft, Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

Zhou is accused of taking advantage of his various positions to help others to obtain benefits in exchange for large amounts of money and other things of value.

A probe of Zhou, a former member of the Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Committee of the Communist Party of China, opened in August 2021. He was suspected of "serious violations of Party discipline and laws", according to the CPC's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, the country's top anti-corruption watchdogs.

He was expelled from the Party and dismissed from his post in late January this year.

A native of Ningbo, Zhejiang, Zhou had served in various positions in the province over the past few decades, including three stints as Party secretary — of Zhoushan, Wenzhou and Hangzhou.

Zhou's case was filed by the People's Procuratorate of Chuzhou, Anhui province, in the city's intermediate people's court.

Prosecutors informed Zhou of his rights, interrogated him and listened to the opinions of his defense counsel.