A former senior Chinese official who embezzled funds approaching 500 billion won has been sentenced to death. As President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive intensifies ahead of next year's 21st Party Congress, China appears willing to impose even the ultimate penalty in mega-scale corruption cases.
The Intermediate People's Court of Changzhou in Jiangsu Province on Sunday sentenced Yang Youlin, former standing deputy director of the Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone management committee, to death on charges of bribery, embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds, abuse of power, and money laundering. He was deprived of his political rights for life, and his personal assets were ordered fully confiscated. Illegally acquired assets and their proceeds will also be returned to the state treasury.
According to the court, Yang's corrupt conduct continued for 30 years from 1993 to 2023. While serving as director of the Jiangning District construction bureau in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and as general manager of the Jiangning Economic and Technological Development Group, he intervened in construction contracts, corporate management, land transfers, and fund operations. In the process, he was found to have provided improper favors to private companies and individuals and accepted more than 2.214 billion yuan (about 496.6 billion won) in assets.
In terms of bribery scale alone, the case ranks among the largest corruption cases handled by Chinese courts. Yang was also charged with embezzling 12 million yuan in government funds between 2014 and 2016 in collusion with others. In addition, he gave more than 25 million yuan in bribes to other public officials to obtain improper benefits, and diverted 15 million yuan in public funds to his personal business. He was also found guilty of causing 23 million yuan in direct losses to the state through unauthorized demolitions and illegal refunds of land use fees.
The court acknowledged that Yang provided leads on other crimes. In China, this can typically serve as grounds for a reduced sentence. However, the court did not allow a reduction, stating that "the amount of bribes was extremely large, the circumstances of the crimes were particularly serious, and the social impact was very bad." Yang is reported to have admitted the charges and expressed remorse at public trials in March and April of this year.
Death sentences for economic crimes are rare in China, but the ultimate penalty has recently been carried out in large-scale corruption cases. Lai Xiaomin, former chairman of China Huarong Asset Management, was executed in 2021 on charges of accepting 1.79 billion yuan in bribes. Li Jianping, former party secretary of the Hohhot Economic and Technological Development Zone in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was executed in 2024 for crimes totaling 3 billion yuan, including bribery, embezzlement, and misappropriation of public funds. Last December, Bai Tianhui, a Huarong executive who was a subordinate of Lai Xiaomin, was executed on charges of accepting more than 1.1 billion yuan in bribes.
Since taking power, Xi has used anti-corruption as a key means of consolidating power and establishing party discipline. Observers say the intensity of the crackdown has risen, particularly as investigations and purges targeting the military, finance, and local power institutions have continued ahead of next year's 21st Party Congress. Since early this year, prominent figures have fallen in succession, including Zhang Youxia, former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and China's second-ranking military leader, followed by Ma Xingrui, a member of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Politburo, and Li Yunze, former head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration. In a speech at a ceremony marking the 105th anniversary of the Communist Party's founding on Tuesday, Xi emphasized a Communist Party-centered governance system, saying, "We must resolutely fight the offensive and defensive battle and the long war of the anti-corruption struggle."
