China's supreme court overturned the decade-old bribery and fraud conviction of a retail magnate on Thursday, a rare reversal amid a government drive to crack down on corporate misdeeds.

Zhang Wenzhong, the former chairman of retailer and supermarket operator Wumart, was prosecuted in northern Hebei province in 2007 and later sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 500,000 yuan ($78,000).

Zhang petitioned the Supreme People's Court in 2016 and was given a retrial last year. The top court ruled that he had not committed the crimes and found that the lower court had made "errors" in its judgement.

Acquittals are extremely rare in China, where prosecutors boast a 99 percent conviction rate.

The ruling also comes as businesspeople have come under heightened scrutiny from authorities who have moved aggressively to prevent heavily-indebted large private companies from collapsing and triggering a financial crisis.

On May 10, a court sentenced the former high-flying head of troubled Anbang Insurance Group, Wu Xiaohui, to 18 years in prison for defrauding the company of more than $10 billion.

Wu has lodged an appeal, according to the state-run Global Times newspaper, which cited his lawyer.

Related Links
China News from SinoDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Hundreds march in Hong Kong to mark Tiananmen crackdown
Hong Kong (AFP) May 27, 2018
Hundreds marched through Hong Kong on Sunday ahead of the 29th anniversary of China's crackdown on democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Semi-autonomous Hong Kong is the only place on Chinese soil where the anniversary is openly marked with a famous vigil in Victoria Park on June 4 each year. The march is an annual precursor to the main event. Organised by a group of veteran democracy activists, protesters demanded justice for the victims of the crackdown and also urged the Chinese ... read more