A Chinese court has sentenced a former senior government official to death after finding him guilty of accepting more than 2.2 billion yuan (about $325 million) in bribes over three decades, marking one of the country’s biggest corruption cases in recent years.
The Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court in eastern China handed the death sentence to 69-year-old Yang Youlin, a former official in Nanjing, after convicting him of bribery, embezzlement, abuse of power and money laundering.
According to Chinese state media, Yang served in various government positions in Nanjing between 1993 and 2023, where he allegedly used his influence to help individuals and companies secure engineering contracts, land transfers and financing approvals in exchange for huge sums of money and valuable gifts.
BBC reports that the court said Yang’s crimes involved more than 2.2 billion yuan in illicit gains and described his offences as “extremely serious,” adding that they caused “exceptionally heavy losses to the interests of the state and the people.”
Despite cooperating with investigators, pleading guilty and expressing remorse during his final statement, the court ruled that the gravity of his crimes made him ineligible for a lighter sentence.
Yang’s conviction is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign, which has targeted senior officials across the military, financial institutions and government agencies since he assumed office.
While Beijing says the crackdown is aimed at eliminating corruption and restoring public confidence in government institutions, critics argue that it has also been used to sideline political opponents and consolidate Xi’s authority.
Death sentences for financial crimes remain relatively uncommon in China but are occasionally imposed in cases involving exceptionally large sums.
In 2021, former state-owned financial executive Lai Xiaomin was executed after being convicted of accepting 1.8 billion yuan in bribes over a decade.
Similarly, former Inner Mongolia official Li Jianping was executed in 2024 after authorities found him guilty of embezzlement and accepting bribes totaling more than 3 billion yuan.
Chinese courts often hand down suspended death sentences in corruption cases, which are typically commuted to life imprisonment after a specified period if the convict demonstrates good behaviour.
Authorities also sometimes reduce sentences for defendants who provide information leading to the prosecution of other offenders.