A former top communications official is under threat of arrest on charges of taking 60 million yuan (US$7.2 million) in bribes, according to local media.

Unconfirmed reports in the Beijing-based China Times said the decision to arrest former deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Communications Bi Yuxi, also a former chairman of the Beijing Capital Highway Development Company, would be made by Sunday.

The Beijing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China has confirmed that Bi accepted large bribes between 1994 and 2003, when he held both posts.

The commission said he was then instrumental in helping others make illegal profits in the expressway construction and other accessory projects.

Inspectors became suspicious earlier this year as they checked up on the Fifth Ring Road project in Beijing, which opened to traffic in November.

Expenditure on the road had overshot by some 100 million yuan (US$12 million), the inspectors found.

On August 8, Bi was detained by police for suspected bribery.

"There is still no official announcement over the issue," procuratorate press office director Bai Xixi said Tuesday.

Bai did not deny an investigation was going on and said he could not be sure whether an official statement would be made.

Bi was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) earlier this month for his part in the corruption case, following a decision by the Beijing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC.

Bribes

The commission confirmed that Bi received bribes many times while he was in the communications bureau and the highway development company.

The Beijing Capital Highway Development Company is the State-run entity responsible for construction and operation of expressways in the capital city, including the Fifth Ring Road.

The local procuratorate has investigated several serial bribery cases along similar lines to Bi.

Among several other senior officials, former assistant manager of the development company Jin Demin was arrested on August 9 on suspicion of bribery.

A labor contractor suspected of bribing Bi in the Fifth Ring Road project has also been arrested.

Before taking the post in the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Communications in 1994, Bi was head of the capital city's Daxing County government.

Before Bi came into the limelight, director of the Jiangsu Provincial Communications Bureau, Zhang Junyuan, and director of the Anhui Provincial Communications Bureau, Wang Xingyao, were investigated for suspected corruption.

(China Daily August 18, 2004)