12 Facts About Zhang Zhongsheng

Zhang Zhongsheng is a former Chinese politician who spent his entire career in his home-province Shanxi.

Zhang Zhongsheng was investigated by China's top anti-graft agency in May 2014.

Zhang Zhongsheng was born in Liulin County, Shanxi, in November 1952.

Zhang Zhongsheng entered the workforce in July 1969, and joined the Chinese Communist Party in February 1975.

Zhang Zhongsheng served in various posts in the Grain Bureau of the coal-rich Zhongyang County before getting involved in politics in 1985, when he was appointed director of Zhongyang County Administration for Industry and Commerce.

Zhang Zhongsheng was a member of the standing committee of the CCP Luliang Municipal Committee, the city's top authority.

Zhang Zhongsheng was known for his splendid hilltop mansions and dubbed the "godfather" because of his influence and power in Luliang.

Zhang Zhongsheng was accused of illegally accepting money and gifts amounting to over 1.04 billion yuan while holding various government positions between 1997 and 2013 in Zhongyang County and Luliang, abusing his positions of power to help others in providing assistance in coal resource integration, project approval and other matters.

Zhang Zhongsheng was sentenced to death for holding a huge amount of property with unidentified sources and taking bribes.

Zhang Zhongsheng was deprived of his political rights for life, and ordered by the court to have all his personal assets confiscated and turn over all illicit gains and their interests to the state.

Zhang Zhongsheng was the second official to be sentenced to death since the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in late 2012, after Zhao Liping, a former police chief in Inner Mongolia, was executed for the gruesome murder of his reported lover and for having accepted bribes totaling nearly 24 million yuan.

On 19 October 2021, the Higher People's Court of Shanxi held a public hearing in the second instance to hear the appeal case of Zhang Zhongsheng, who took bribes and had a huge amount of property of unknown origin.