Key facts
- Yang Youlin, a former Nanjing official, has been sentenced to death for bribery.
- He accepted over 2.21 billion yuan ($325 million) in bribes, along with other charges.
- The court cited "extremely serious nature" and "exceptionally heavy losses" to the state.
- Yang Youlin exploited his roles to secure engineering contracts, land transfers, and financing.
- The sentence is part of President Xi Jinping's ongoing anti-corruption campaign.
A court in eastern China has sentenced Yang Youlin, a former economic development official in Nanjing, to death for accepting bribes valued at over 2.21 billion yuan ($325 million) between 1993 and 2023. The Changzhou Intermediate People's Court stated that Yang also engaged in embezzlement, abuse of power, and money laundering. The 69-year-old exploited his roles to help others secure engineering contracts, land transfers, and financing in exchange for money and valuables. This case is part of President Xi Jinping's extensive anti-corruption campaign, though death sentences for graft remain rare and are typically reserved for cases involving extremely large sums and egregious circumstances. Yang pleaded guilty and expressed remorse in his final statement, but his assistance to authorities was deemed insufficient to warrant a more lenient punishment due to the gravity of his offenses.