A former senior legislator in corruption-plagued Shanxi province pleaded guilty in court on Wednesday after being accused of accepting bribes of more than 120 million yuan ($18.4 million).

Jin Daoming, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the provincial People's Congress, was accused of using his position starting in the first half of 2007 until early 2014 to "seek interests for other people" during coal mine mergers and in job promotions. He was also accused of wrongdoing related to disciplinary inspections, according to prosecutors in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province.

The Intermediate People's Court in Zhenjiang, where Jin's case was heard, said a verdict would be announced at a later date.

Jin was placed under investigation for "serious violations of Party discipline", a phrase usually used to refer to corruption, in February 2014 and was removed from his post and expelled from the Communist Party of China in December that year for "seeking interests for others, soliciting and accepting large amounts of bribes and committing adultery", according the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Jin held several positions in Shanxi province from 2006 to 2014. He was head of the Party's disciplinary department in the province as well as deputy Party chief and a senior legislator.

No details of the trial were available on Wednesday.

In recent decades, Shanxi province has gained a reputation for corrupt officials who mined a rich seam of personal and business contacts within the coal sector to enrich themselves, their relatives and their friends.

In 2015, more than 22,000 Party officials in the province were punished for violations of the law and Party discipline.

zhang_yi@chinadaily.com.cn