SOE executive gets 5 years for bribery

An executive of a State-owned logistics company has been sentenced to five years in prison for taking 132,600 yuan ($21,335) in bribes, the Shanghai Railway Transport Intermediate Court said Thursday.

The defendant, surnamed Chen, 45, a former deputy manager at the Shanghai branch of China Railway International Multimodal Transport Co Ltd, was charged with bribery for accepting cash in exchange for allowing another company to receive shipments under the State-owned enterprise's (SOE) name, according to a court press release.

Chen was in charge of international cargo transportation through the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region at China Railway International, which specializes in transporting cargo by rail or ship in Asia, Europe and North America.

In July 2011, Chen learned that a company in Xinjiang was planning to transport several empty shipping containers to Shanghai, the court said. He outsourced the business to a manager surnamed Liu at Shanghai Hongsheng Transport Co Ltd, who asked Chen to let him claim the shipment under the SOE's name.

Because China Railway International has a long-standing business relationship with the Shanghai Railway Bureau's cargo transportation station in Yangpu district, it enjoyed several exclusive perks there, said Mao Hezhen, a press officer with the Shanghai Railway Transport Intermediate Court.

For example, the SOE doesn't have to pay storage or tally fees, Mao told the Global Times.

By receiving the shipment under the enterprise's name, Liu's company could take advantage of the preferential treatment to save money. In exchange for the favor, he gave Chen a kickback, the court said. Chen also assigned one of the SOE's employees to help Liu with the shipment.

The two executives maintained their relationship until June 2013, by which time Liu had transported 1,326 containers under the SOE's name, the court said.

On July 5, Chen turned himself in to the Shanghai Railway Prosecutor's Office and surrendered all of the bribe money.

It was unclear what prompted Chen to turn himself in.

The court also fined the defendant 20,000 yuan.