China Hands Ex-Government Official Death Sentence Over Record ₦500bn-Plus Bribery Case

A court in eastern China has sentenced a former senior government official, Yang Youlin, to death after finding him guilty of accepting more than 2.2 billion yuan (about $325 million or £243 million) in bribes over a period spanning three decades.

Yang, 69, who served in several key government positions in Nanjing between 1993 and 2023, was convicted by the Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court of bribery, embezzlement, abuse of power and money laundering.

Chinese authorities described the illicit gains as among the largest corruption cases recorded in the country in recent years, underscoring the scale of the offences.

According to state media, Yang exploited his public offices to secure engineering contracts, facilitate land transfers and arrange financing for individuals and companies in return for huge sums of money and other valuable gifts.

The court ruled that his actions caused severe damage to public interests and inflicted significant losses on the state.
In its judgment, the court said the offences were “extremely serious” and had resulted in “exceptionally heavy losses to the interests of the state and the people”, leaving little room for leniency.

Although Yang admitted to the charges, expressed remorse and cooperated with investigators throughout the probe, the court held that the gravity of his crimes outweighed the mitigating factors presented in his defence.

His conviction is the latest high-profile case arising from President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign, which has intensified over the past decade and has seen senior government officials, military officers and banking executives investigated and prosecuted for graft.

The campaign has been presented by Beijing as part of efforts to restore public confidence in government institutions and strengthen discipline within the ruling establishment.