The mayor of Wuhan at the time of the Wuhan pneumonia lockdown received a bribe of 290 million and was sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined.

The Intermediate People's Court of Shangqiu City, Henan Province, China, announced today (10th) the first instance verdict in the case of Zhou Xianwang, former member and vice chairman of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, for accepting a bribe of 6,050 yuan (approximately NT$290 million). He was sentenced to 14 years in prison for accepting bribes and fined RMB 5 million (approximately NT$24 million). The recovered property and interest obtained from Zhou Xianwang's crimes were turned over to the state treasury in accordance with the law, and the remaining portion will continue to be recovered.

According to comprehensive Chinese media reports, Zhou Xianwang was the mayor when Wuhan was locked down during the Wuhan pneumonia period in 2020. He was accused of slow response to the epidemic, which aroused strong criticism from public opinion. In January 2021, Zhou Xianwang was transferred to member and vice chairman of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In January 2023, the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference changed its term, and Zhou Xianwang no longer served as a member of the Provincial Committee of the Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice chairman until he was investigated in July last year.

The Shangqiu Intermediate People's Court held that Zhou Xianwang's behavior constituted the crime of accepting bribes, and the amount of bribes he accepted was extremely large and should be punished in accordance with the law. In view of the attempted bribery crime, he truthfully confessed the crime after arriving at the case, took the initiative to explain most of the bribery facts that the case handling agency had not yet grasped, confessed his guilt and repented, and actively returned the stolen goods. Most of the stolen money and property actually obtained from the bribery had been recovered, and he could be given a lighter punishment in accordance with the law. The court then made the above judgment.