BEIJING: A court in eastern China has sentenced a former senior city official to death after convicting him of accepting more than 2.2 billion yuan (about $325 million) in bribes over 30 years, state media reported.
Yang Youlin, 69, was also found guilty of embezzlement, abuse of power and money laundering, with the court ruling that his crimes caused substantial losses to the interests of the state and the public.
According to state media, Yang served in various positions in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing between 1993 and 2023, using his official authority to help individuals and companies obtain engineering contracts, land transfers and financing in exchange for money and valuables.
The Intermediate People’s Court in Changzhou said Yang’s offences were “of an extremely serious nature” and had caused “exceptionally heavy losses to the interests of the state and the people.”
The court said the value of the bribes exceeded 2.2 billion yuan, making it one of China’s largest corruption cases in recent years.
Although Yang cooperated with investigators, pleaded guilty and expressed remorse during the trial, the court ruled that the gravity of his crimes meant his assistance was insufficient to justify a lighter sentence.
The case was investigated as part of China’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign.
China imposes severe penalties for major corruption offences, including the death penalty in exceptionally serious cases involving very large sums of money.
In recent years, former Lai Xiaomin was executed after being convicted of accepting 1.8 billion yuan in bribes over a decade, while former Li Jianping was executed after being found guilty of embezzlement and taking bribes totalling more than 3 billion yuan.
