Shanghai Intermediate People’s Court started the trial on Monday, stating that Gu had accepted the bribes from a steel supplier between 1998 to 2013, the period when he was the chief executive of CSSC’s Hudong-Zhonghua.
Gu, however, denied the charges and defended by saying that one of the co-owners behind the steel company was himself and that the money involved belonged to him.
Among the alleged bribery amount of RMB5.74m, Gu explained that RMB5.25m was part of his own money and company’s working capital, RMB90,000 was travel benefits for relatives of staff, and RMB400,000 was profit generated from the resale of property purchases as part of investment.
Gu also told the court that he had signed a 20-year confidentiality agreement when he joined Hudong-Zhonghua as the shipyard constructs military vessels, and that he could be retiring without sufficient money for his later years.
He then co-founded the steel company with two other investors in a bid to make extra income. Due to his senior position at a state-owned firm, Gu had used his mother’s name to invest in the co-founded company.
Gu was arrested by the authorities in May this year.
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