A former senior official from the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing has been sentenced to death after a court found he accepted more than $325 million in bribes over three decades, in one of the country’s most significant recent corruption cases. The ruling underscores Beijing’s continuing anti-graft drive under President Xi Jinping.
A court in China has sentenced former senior Nanjing official Yang Youlin to death after finding him guilty of running a vast corruption scheme spanning three decades, according to Chinese state media on Tuesday.
The Intermediate People’s Court in Changzhou ruled that Yang accepted bribes in exchange for facilitating project approvals, allocating land and securing financial support for companies.
The court found that Yang illegally received 2.21 billion yuan (approximately $325 million) between 1993 and 2023.
Investigators also concluded that the former official abused his position, engaged in embezzlement, laundered money and misappropriated state funds.
During hearings held in March and April, Yang pleaded guilty and expressed remorse. Despite his admission, the court imposed the death penalty and ordered the confiscation of all his assets.
The case forms part of China’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign led by President Xi Jinping, under which authorities have prosecuted thousands of officials at various levels of government over the past decade.
