A former senior publicity official has pleaded guilty to corruption charges in the Intermediate People's Court of Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, on Friday.

Lu Wei, former deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and former head of the Cyberspace Administration of China, is accused of taking advantage of his positions to assist certain organizations and individuals in Internet management and personal promotion from 2002 to 2017.

Lu was charged with accepting property worth more than 32 million yuan (4.6 million U.S. dollars), and has expressed remorse to the court.

The court will announce the verdict in the case at a later date.

On the same day, Zhang Shaochun, former vice minister of finance, has been arrested on suspicion of bribery, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) announced. The SPP said the National Supervisory Commission has finished investigating Zhang's case and handed it to the procuratorial organ for review and prosecution. 

Bai Xiangqun, former vice chairman of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has been expelled from the CPC and dismissed from office over serious violations of discipline and laws, reports said on Friday. The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission said in a statement that they had conducted an investigation into Bai, who is also a former member of the Leading Party Members Group of the government of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. 

The SPP also stated that Wang Xiaoguang, former vice governor of southwest China's Guizhou Province, has been arrested for allegedly taking bribes and embezzlement. The decision was made after the National Supervisory Commission finished investigating Wang and handed his case to the SPP. Wang is also a former member of the Standing Committee of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Ai Wenli, former vice chairman of the Hebei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has been expelled from the CPC over serious violations of discipline and suspected crime of accepting bribes. Ai's expulsion from the CPC has been approved by the CPC Central Committee, according to a statement by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission on Friday. 

(Top image is a file photo of Lu Wei.)

(With input from Xinhua.)