Former geological survey head arrested for leaking State secrets

A former head of the China Geological Survey, Zhong Ziran, has been arrested for accepting bribes and intentionally leaking State secrets, the Supreme People's Procuratorate announced on Tuesday.

It said the National Commission of Supervision recently concluded investigations of Zhong and has transferred his case to prosecuting authorities for review and prosecution.

Zhong, a 61-year-old native of Anhui province, started working in 1983 and joined the Communist Party of China in 1985. He served in geological and mineral-related departments for a long time. In July 2014, he became the director and Party secretary of the China Geological Survey, holding the position until September 2022.

He was placed under investigation in January this year, making him the first senior official under the management of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee to be investigated this year. He was expelled from the Party last month.

According to the Criminal Law, a functionary of a State organ who intentionally or negligently leaks State secrets shall, if the circumstances are serious, be sentenced to imprisonment of not more than three years or short-term custody. If the circumstances are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of three to seven years.

In July last year, Sun Guofeng, a former head of the monetary policy department of the People's Bank of China, was convicted of accepting bribes, intentional leaking of State secrets and insider trading, and was sentenced to 16 and a half years in prison and fined 13.1 million yuan ($1.8 million).

yangzekun@chinadaily.com.cn