China Sends Ex-Forestry Chief to Prosecutors in Bribery Case

China expelled former National Forestry and Grassland Administration chief Zhang Jianlong from the Communist Party and referred him to prosecutors on suspected bribery charges, accusing the retired senior official of paying lip service to Beijing’s directives while failing to carry them out.

The Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission said Monday that Zhang had abused his authority to seek benefits for others in approvals involving forest-land use, special-purpose funding, wildlife-use permits and engineering contracts, while accepting what it described as huge illegal payments.