China jails retired defence tech overseer for 10 years in US$6.3m corruption case

Zhang Jianhua, former deputy head of China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, was sentenced on Wednesday by the Dazhou Intermediate People’s Court in Sichuan province, according to state news agency Xinhua.The court was told that between 2008 and last year, Zhang exploited his various leadership roles at the administration to help third parties with approvals and investment, accepting more than 43.38 million yuan in cash and valuables in return.Zhang’s roles included head of the administration’s finance and audit department, chief engineer and deputy director.Zhang netted 11.7 million yuan of the illicit earnings following his retirement in 2021, when he continued to use his influence to help others to secure improper gains in business operations and project contracting, state media reported.The court ruled that Zhang was guilty of directly accepting bribes and taking bribes through the exercise of influence, both of which involved “particularly large sums”.