A court in eastern China has sentenced former Nanjing city official Yang Youlin to death after convicting him of accepting more than 2.2 billion yuan ($325 million; £243 million) in bribes over three decades. The 69‑year‑old, who held various posts between 1993 and 2023, was also found guilty of embezzlement, abuse of power, and money laundering—making his case one of the largest corruption scandals in recent years. According to state media, Yang exploited his positions to secure contracts, land transfers, and financing for others in exchange for money and valuables.
He was investigated under President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti‑corruption campaign, which has targeted sectors ranging from the military to banking. The court in Changzhou city described his crimes as ‘extremely serious’ and said they had caused ‘exceptionally heavy losses to the interests of the state and the people.’ Critics of Xi’s anti‑corruption drive argue that it has also been used to sideline political rivals.
Death sentences for white collar crimes, however, remain rare, though they are meted out occasionally, typically if the cases involve large sums exceeding 1bn yuan. For instance, former finance chief Lai Xiaomin was executed in 2021 for taking 1.8bn yuan in bribes over a 10-year period. Li Jianping, a former Inner Mongolia official, was executed in 2024 for embezzling and taking bribes totalling more than 3bn yuan.
In many other cases, the courts handed out jail terms or suspended death sentences, which get commuted to life imprisonment after a specified duration. The courts have also reduced sentences in some cases where the convicted individuals reported on other offenders.
But while Yang provided similar assistance to authorities, his offences were so “grave” that his assistance “was insufficient to warrant a more lenient punishment”, the Changzhou court said.
Yang pleaded guilty and “expressed remorse in his final statement”, according to state media.
Source: bbc.com
