A former senior official of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region stood trial yesterday for accepting millions of yuan in bribes.

The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court opened the hearing on the case of Liu Zhuozhi, who was charged with taking more than 8.17 million yuan (US$1.28 million) in bribes from 2002 to 2010 while he was government head and Party chief of the Communist Party of China of Xilingol League in western Inner Mongolia as well as vice chairman of the autonomous region's government, said a statement from the court.

In exchange, Liu granted favors to 21 people who offered him bribes, including approving business and mining credentials and promoting officials, the statement said.

Liu was represented by lawyers at the hearing and his family was present. The court will deliver the verdict later.

Liu was removed from his post and investigated for severe disciplinary violations in December 2010.

A total of 4,843 Chinese officials above the level of county head were punished for discipline violations in 2011, and cases involving 777 of them have been transferred to judicial departments, according to the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, which is the Party's top disciplinary watchdog.