Former Beijing traffic police chief stands corruption trial

The former head of traffic authority in the Chinese capital, who has been accused of taking bribes worth over USD 3 million for issuing "priviledged" vehicle license plates, today went on trial.
Song Jianguo, former chief of Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, has been charged with allegedly taking kickbacks in the form of cash and real estate in return for supplying Jing-A plates to individuals and companies.
The 61-year-old allegedly did the favours for bribes worth more than 23 million yuan (USD 3.75 mn) between 2004 and 2014, according to Beijing First Intermediate People's Court.
The Jing A ("Jing" represents Beijing) plates are considered by many as privileged because they are mostly owned by government and public institutions.

The Jing A plates were the first batch of plates issued during the 1990s when private cars were rare, though they enjoy no actual privilege on the road, industry insiders said.
Many affluent residents pursue them out of vanity.
Song was detained in August 2014. He disagreed with the accused amount of bribery during the trial, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The verdict in the trial will be announced at a later date.