Zhou Xianwang, the former mayor of Wuhan who drew criticism for his slow response to the early spread of COVID-19, was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison on bribery charges. [CCTV]
Zhou Xianwang, the former mayor of Wuhan who drew criticism for his slow response to the early spread of COVID-19, was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison on bribery charges. [CCTV]

The former mayor of Wuhan, who drew widespread criticism for his slow response to the early spread of COVID-19, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges of accepting about 12 billion won ($8.97 million) in bribes.

China Central Television reported Monday that the Shangqiu Intermediate People's Court in Henan Province handed down the sentence against former Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang on Saturday (local time) in a first-instance ruling, also imposing a fine of 5 million yuan ($746,000). The court ordered that recovered criminal proceeds be turned over to the state treasury in accordance with the law, and said any amounts not yet recovered would continue to be pursued.

During the trial, it emerged that Zhou had used his official authority from 2003 through last year to provide favors to organizations and individuals in areas including construction contracts, business operations and administrative permits, receiving a total of 60.5 million yuan — equivalent to about 12 billion won — in exchange.

Zhou served as Wuhan's mayor from 2018 but faced sharp criticism for his inadequate handling of the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. In January 2020, even as the virus was spreading rapidly, he allowed more than 40,000 households to attend Lunar New Year gatherings, drawing calls for his resignation.

As pressure to step down intensified, Zhou said he would take responsibility but remained in his post, before moving in January 2021 to become vice chairman of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a position he held until 2023. In effect, he faced no real accountability for the early failures in the COVID-19 response.

Chinese authorities launched a corruption investigation into Zhou last July. In January this year, the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission announced that the probe had found he had seriously violated discipline on integrity, committed major work-related violations of the law, and was suspected of accepting bribes. He was subsequently expelled from the party and removed from public office.


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