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 (about $325 million) in bribes over a 30-year period.
The 69-year-old was also found guilty of embezzlement, abuse of power, and money laundering. Authorities said he used his various government positions between 1993 and 2023 to help individuals secure engineering contracts, land transfers, and financing in exchange for cash and other valuables.
The court described his offences as “extremely serious,” stating that they caused significant losses to the interests of the state and the public. Yang was investigated as part of President Xi Jinping’s nationwide anti-corruption campaign, which has targeted officials across the government, military, and financial sectors.
Although Yang reportedly cooperated with investigators, pleaded guilty, and expressed remorse, the court ruled that the severity of his crimes outweighed any mitigating factors, making him ineligible for a reduced sentence.
China rarely imposes the death penalty for financial crimes, but it has done so in several high-profile corruption cases involving exceptionally large sums of money.
