A former government official of a Beijing district went on trial Wednesday on charges of corruption, including bribe-taking and embezzlement.

Yan Yongxi, 47, former deputy head of the government of Mentougou, a suburban district in western Beijing, stood trial at the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court along with two local officials and a company legal representative who had collaborated with him.

Prosecutors allege that from the latter half of 2006 to April 2008, Yan took the advantage of his posts -- including deputy government chief of Mentougou and chief of the leading group for resettlement in key projects of Mentougou's Xincheng Zone -- to collaborate with three others in making up three separate land acquisitions and forged agreements for relocation compensation so as to defraud the government of about 5.8 million yuan (875,800 U.S. dollars) in land-use fees, the court heard.

From October 2003 to July 2007, Yan, who served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Mentougou District Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Party secretary of the district's Yongding Township, took cash and properties in bribes worth 6.8 million yuan. In return, he abused his power to pursue benefits on behalf of those who bribed him, prosecutors said.

He was also alleged to have embezzled 30 million yuan from public funds and lent it to a company for business development in April 2006, the court heard.

The trial is continuing.

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