China Geological Survey’s former head Zhong Ziran charged with state secrets leak, bribery

China’s highest prosecutorial body has charged the former head of the country’s geological survey agency with bribe-taking and leaking state secrets.

Zhong Ziran, 62, is accused of using his senior positions at the Ministry of Natural Resources as well as its affiliated China Geological Survey to take a “particularly big” amount of bribes, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said in a notice on its website on Friday.

The sum involved was not disclosed.

The notice added that Zhong, who was also Communist Party head at China Geological Survey, had intentionally leaked state secrets.

The nature of the breach was “serious” and Zhong had violated the law of guarding state secrets, it said, but did not offer details.

Zhong is the most senior among a string of officials at government agencies overseeing natural resources to have faced corruption investigations in recent months.