06-01-09 14:34 in Jobs, Expat Hunting, Employment Search 
Jiang Renjie, the former vice mayor of Suzhou city, was sentenced to death for taking 100 million yuan (14.6 million dollars) in bribes from five property companies between 2001 and 2004, Xinhua news agency reported. The sentence for former Suzhou vice mayor Jiang Renjie comes just five days after a former Beijing vice mayor in charge of overseeing Olympic construction projects got a suspended death sentence for accepting about US$1 million (S$1.5 million) in bribes from developers. Officials said the bribe-taking had nothing to do with Olympic projects.
Jiang was in charge of construction, transportation and other lucrative sectors in Suzhou, where almost 100 Fortune 500 companies have a presence. The city is just outside Shanghai, China's business capital and largest city.
Jiang, 60, was also convicted by a court in neighbouring Nanjing for misappropriating public funds, it said, without giving the date of his trial.
The former vice mayor, who was placed under investigation in 2004, has appealed the sentence, it added.
Meanwhile a top parliamentarian dealing with state finances has also been placed under investigation for his role in a real estate scam, Xinhua said.
In China, all land belongs to the state, giving local leaders tremendous economic clout in divvying up land-use rights.
Zhu Zhigang, deputy head of the finance committee of China's parliament, was placed under investigation for helping close relatives buy property at discounted prices, Xinhua said.
Zhu, who holds a minister-level rank as a member of the standing committee of the National People's Congress, is also head of the parliament's budget committee, the report said.
Up to a dozen other people involved in Beijing real estate and accounting companies are believed to be implicated in the case, the report said, without offering further details.
Zhu, 58, served seven years as China's vice minister of finance and only took up his parliamentary duties this year, it said.
Source: BEIJING (AFP) & Shanghai Daily
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