China indicts ex-Politburo member Ma Xingrui for bribery

BEIJING, Nov 5 - China has indicted Ma Xingrui, a former member of the ruling Communist Party's Politburo, on charges of taking bribes, official news agency Xinhua said on Thursday, as President Xi Jinping steps up his campaign to root out graft.Prosecutors accused Ma of using his positions and status as a government official and as general manager of the state-owned contractor for China's space programme to "seek benefits" and accept "particularly large amounts" of bribes.His expulsion from the Communist Party on graft charges was confirmed last week in a communique from the party's fifth plenum.Ma was among 33 officials listed as expelled, including former senior military leader Zhang Youxia, former senior diplomat Liu Jianchao and former industry minister Jin Zhuanglong.There was no immediate response to Reuters attempts, by email and fax, to seek comment from Ma. REUTERS