Chinese court sentences former Nanjing official to death in bribery case
Yang Youlin was convicted after a court said he took more than $324 million in bribes over three decades in government posts.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
A Chinese court has sentenced Yang Youlin, a former senior official in Nanjing, to death after finding him guilty in a corruption case involving more than 2.2 billion yuan, or $324 million. The ruling adds to a series of severe penalties handed down in China under President Xi Jinping’s long-running campaign against official graft.
The Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Jiangsu province said Monday that Yang took money and property illegally while serving in government roles between 1993 and 2023, according to Reuters and The Associated Press. The court said the payments were made in return for assistance with projects, business activity, land allocations and working capital.
Yang was also convicted of embezzlement, offering bribes, misappropriating public funds, abusing power and money laundering, the court said. Reuters and The Associated Press described the case as one of the most prominent recent corruption prosecutions in China because of the size of the bribes cited by the court.
Court officials released images showing Yang in a dark jacket standing between two uniformed police officers, Reuters and The Associated Press reported. The court said Yang made a final statement in which he expressed guilt and remorse.
Reuters reported that it could not reach Yang or his lawyer for comment.
Court orders assets seized
The court said Yang’s personal assets would be confiscated. It also said authorities would seek to recover the full amount he was found to have received in bribes, according to Reuters and The Associated Press.
Public hearings in the case were held over two days in March and April, the court said. More than 30 people attended those sessions, according to the court’s account cited by Reuters and The Associated Press.
Yang was investigated under Xi’s anticorruption drive, Reuters and The Associated Press reported. Critics of the campaign say it has also been used in part to sideline Xi’s political opponents.
Severe corruption sentences
Yang is the latest Chinese official to receive a death sentence in a corruption case in recent years, according to Reuters and The Associated Press.
In 2021, Lai Xiaomin, a party secretary at a state-owned company, was sentenced to death and executed after being convicted of accepting bribes, embezzlement and bigamy, Reuters and The Associated Press reported.
In 2024, Li Jianping, a local official in Inner Mongolia, was executed after being found guilty of embezzlement and bribery, according to Reuters and The Associated Press.
Another major case involved Zhang Zhongsheng, an official from Shanxi province. Reuters and The Associated Press reported that Zhang was sentenced to death in 2018 for taking more than 1 billion yuan in bribes, before his punishment was changed in 2021 after an appeal to a suspended death sentence and life imprisonment.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.