Former head of Xinjiang pleads guilty to bribery

A former chairman of China's northwest Xinjiang region pleaded guilty at a trial on Thursday to accepting $11.5 million in bribes, the court said.

It is among the most high-profile cases in President Xi Jinping's sweeping campaign against corruption in the Communist Party, which critics have compared to a political purge.

The Shenyang Intermediate People's Court said Nur Bekri -- who rose to become head of China's national energy administration -- pleaded guilty to accepting 79.1 million yuan ($11.5 million) in bribes, and had "showed repentance" during the trial.

The verdict will be announced at a "select date or time," added the court on its official Twitter-like Weibo account.

Photos released by the Shenyang court showed Bekri in a white shirt and dark slacks, standing between two police officers in the courtroom.

He looked gaunt and noticeably thinner compared to photos from March 2018.

Bekri, an ethnic Uighur, had worked his way up in his native Xinjiang -- eventually rising to ..