Chinese court sentenced former mayor of Wuhan city to 14 years in prison for bribery

BEIJING (AP) — A former mayor of a Chinese city hit by the coronavirus outbreak more than six years ago was sentenced Saturday to 14 years in prison after being convicted of bribery.

While Zhou Xianwang has drawn criticism for his handling of the early stages of the outbreak in Wuhan, a city in central China, the court statement did not mention that, but focused on him receiving bribes. The court also fined him 5 million yuan ($747,000).

The Shangqiu Intermediate People’s Court said Zhou used his various positions to assist others on matters such as business operations and administrative approvals between 2003 and 2025. He accepted money and valuables totaling more than 60.5 million yuan ($9 million), it said, adding the amount was exceptionally large.

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The court decided that his sentence could be reduced because he confessed to his crimes and cooperated with authorities and most of the proceeds were recovered, it said.

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Government anti-corruption drives have become a signature policy of Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012. Thousands of officials have been purged, including high-profile political rivals.

Addressing allegations of Wuhan’s failure to disclose information early in the COVID-19 outbreak, Zhou then said that local governments are restricted from releasing information about infectious diseases without authorization.

In December 2019, patients began showing up in Wuhan hospitals complaining of flu-like symptoms, including high fever, cough and breathing difficulties. Soon after, a Chinese lab assembled a near-complete sequence of the virus, showing it to be similar to the coronavirus that caused the 2002-03 SARS outbreak. The lab alerted health authorities, but the information was kept under wraps.

In mid-January, Chinese health officials said in an internal meeting that “clustered cases suggest human-to-human transmission is possible” and ordered emergency preparations for a pandemic. In public, though, they downplayed the virus’s ability to infect.

As infections spread, Wuhan was placed under a 76-day lockdown beginning Jan. 23, 2020.