Sixty-nine people will be charged in connection with long-standing corruption in the southern province of Guangdong, according to the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Ministry of Supervision, including 29 officials who have already been sacked from their posts and expelled from the Party.

Amongst them are the former deputy governor of the Guangdong branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the former governors of its Foshan City and Nanhai District branches, and the former director of Nanhai's finance bureau.

During an investigation that has lasted over a year, more than 233 people involved in the case were questioned, including 80 government officials, Xinhua reported.

According to a report from the National Audit Office (CNAO) presented to the National People's Congress in June and the State Council in August, a well-known Foshan private entrepreneur called Feng Mingchang colluded with bank and government officials to defraud the ICBC of billions of yuan.

The NAO report said that Feng, owner of Huaguang Decorative Boards, a building material manufacturer, forged financial papers and conspired with bank executives to obtain 7.4 billion yuan (US$894 million) from the ICBC's Nanhai branch.

Much of the money was then transferred overseas, with more than 2 billion yuan (US$ 233 million) still not recovered, according to the report.

Dozens of bank and government officials allegedly took bribes from Feng and forged false letters of credit and proof of land and property to help him receive bank loans.

Feng has been arrested and is awaiting trial. His mode of collusion is thought to be typical of that between corrupt government officials and business owners.

(China Daily January 17, 2005)