BEIJING, June 9 (UPI) -- China's former railways minister Sunday stood trial in Beijing on charges of abuse of power and bribery, court records showed.
Liu Zhijun, 60, is accused of helping 11 people get promotions and project contracts, and of accepting more than $10.5 million in bribes between 1986 and 2011, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
Liu is suspected of assisting Ding Yuxin and her relatives win cargo transportation and railway construction contracts. He violated regulations and used favoritism to help them acquire shares in a bullet train wheel set company, and with enterprise financing, the indictment read.
Liu's actions allegedly led to a loss of public assets, damaging the interests of the state and people, the indictment said.
Liu became railways minister and the ministry's Communist Party chief in March 2003. He was removed from his position in February 2011 on suspicion of serious disciplinary violations and was expelled in 2012 from the Communist Party of China.
