A DISGRACED former Guangzhou vice mayor pleaded guilty to corruption charges in Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court on Friday morning, the Nanfang Daily reported over the weekend.

    Cao Jianliao, a former vice mayor of Guangzhou and Party chief of Zengcheng, an urban district on the southern fringes of Guangdong’s provincial capital, was charged with abuse of power and taking more than 76 million yuan (US$11.69 million) in bribes from developers to facilitate construction projects between 1991 and 2013, the court heard.

    Cao pleaded guilty to the charges, but asked the court for leniency because he had turned himself in and assisted with the investigations of other corrupt officials, the Daily said.

    According to the newspaper report, Cao returned 31.3 million yuan and 985,000 Canadian dollars (US$705,063) in bribes in August 2013 after learning that he was being investigated by the Party’s disciplinary authority.

    Cao was removed from his post and officially investigated in December 2013. His downfall is linked to the redevelopment of Xiancun, an urban village in Guangzhou’s central business district, to make way for Zhujiang New Town.

    Guangzhou’s disciplinary watchdog found that Cao took bribes from property developers. Developers hoped Cao would use his influence to pressure Xiancun villagers into giving away their land cheaply. The village covered 470,000 square meters with 350,000 square meters sold to developers below market price, at best fetching 25 yuan per square meter. Property in Zhujiang New Town now sells for up to 50,000 yuan per square meter.

    An earlier Xinhua report said Cao had turned down promotions to stay in lower-ranking but more lucrative posts.

    “I never took small bribes. I aimed for the big ones,” Cao was said to have confessed in a documentary produced by the Guangdong provincial disciplinary commission to educate Party and government officials amid an ongoing anti-corruption campaign, according to China Business News in 2014.

    The court said it would consider Cao’s requests when handing down a verdict at a later date. (SD News)