Former Nanjing Official Sentenced to Death for Bribery

Beijing. Former executive deputy director of the Nanjing Development Zone Administrative Committee in China's eastern Jiangsu province, Yang Youlin, was sentenced to death on Monday on charges of bribery.

The Intermediate People's Court of Changzhou City, Jiangsu, also ordered Yang to be deprived of political rights for life and his property to be confiscated.

According to the court's verdict, Yang was found guilty of corruption, embezzlement of public funds, abuse of power, and money laundering.

According to the court, from 1993 to 2023, Yang, while holding various positions in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu, illegally assisted institutions and individuals in engineering contracts, business operations, land transfers, and financial assistance, accumulating a total of 2.21 billion yuan (approximately 325 million US dollars) in bribes and illegal assets.

In addition, it was found that he colluded with others to defraud public funds, bribed government officials for undue favors, misused funds of state-owned companies, and illegally managed land demolition and development projects, which had a serious impact on society.

The verdict stated that Yang illegally refunded land transfer fees, causing significant financial losses to the state, and concealed bribe money by lending it to companies under his control, later presenting it as his income.

The court said, "It has been confirmed that Yang took an excessively large amount of bribes. The nature of his crime was extremely serious, the social impact was very negative, and it caused immense damage to the interests of the state and the people. Therefore, according to the law, he has been sentenced to death."

Although he reported other people's crimes, and that too was found to be true, the court stated that given the severity, nature, and social harm of his bribery, there was no room for leniency.

Public hearings for this case were held on March 18 and April 28. During the hearings, prosecutors, the defendant, and his lawyer debated the evidence. Yang confessed to his guilt and expressed remorse in his final statement.