Key facts
- Yang Youlin, a former Chinese official, was sentenced to death.
- The sentence was for accepting over 2.2 billion yuan ($324 million) in bribes.
- He was also convicted of abuse of power and money laundering.
- The court deemed the bribery case 'especially egregious'.
- Yang expressed remorse and admitted guilt in court.
Yang Youlin, a former senior local official in Nanjing, has been sentenced to death by a Chinese court for corruption, including accepting bribes totaling over 2.2 billion yuan ($324 million) and charges of abuse of power and money laundering. The Changzhou Intermediate People's Court stated that the amount accepted was 'especially huge' and the circumstances were 'especially serious' with an 'especially egregious social impact'. Yang admitted guilt and expressed remorse in court. This case is part of an extensive anti-corruption campaign initiated by President Xi Jinping, though death sentences for graft remain rare, typically reserved for cases involving sums exceeding 1 billion yuan.