A court in eastern China has sentenced Yang Youlin, a former senior city official, to death for accepting bribes totaling over 2.2 billion yuan ($325 million) during a 30-year period. Yang, aged 69, held various influential administrative roles in Nanjing city from 1993 until 2023.
In addition to bribery, Yang was found guilty of embezzlement, abuse of power, and money laundering. The Changzhou municipal court revealed that he used his official positions to help third parties secure lucrative engineering contracts, land transfers, and project financing in exchange for substantial kickbacks and valuables.
Much of Yang’s career involved overseeing economic and technological development zones in Nanjing, granting him extensive authority over municipal investments. The court described his offenses as “extremely serious,” causing significant losses to state and public interests. Due to the gravity of his crimes, the judiciary ruled out any leniency.
Notably, although Yang cooperated with investigators and provided information on other offenders, the court determined that his cooperation was insufficient to reduce his sentence given the severity of his offenses.
Yang pleaded guilty and expressed deep remorse during his final statement before the court. His case is part of President Xi Jinping’s extensive anti-corruption campaign, which has targeted corruption across military, banking, and regional administrative sectors since its launch.
While capital punishment for white-collar crimes is uncommon in China, death sentences are occasionally imposed when financial crimes exceed one billion yuan. For context, former finance chief Lai Xiaomin was executed in 2021 for accepting 1.8 billion yuan in bribes, and in 2024, Li Jianping, a former official from Inner Mongolia, was executed for embezzling and bribery involving over 3 billion yuan.
