Yang Youlin, the former executive deputy director of the administrative committee of the Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone in Jiangsu province, was sentenced to death on Monday by the Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court for corruption and related criminal offenses. Yang was convicted of accepting bribes exceeding 2.2 billion yuan ($324 million), among other charges.

In addition to the death sentence, the court deprived Yang of his political rights for life and ordered the confiscation of all his personal assets. He also received multiple prison terms and fines for various offenses, including 11 years and six months in prison and a 1 million yuan fine for embezzlement, 11 years and a 1 million yuan fine for offering bribes, five years for misappropriation of public funds, four years for abuse of power, and six months in prison with a 100,000 yuan fine for money laundering. These sentences were consolidated into the death penalty ruling, and all illegal gains linked to his crimes are to be confiscated and turned over to the state treasury.

According to the court, Yang abused a series of official positions between 1993 and 2023—including as an adviser to the Nanjing Niushou Mountain Cultural Tourism Zone and executive deputy director of the development zone administrative committee—to secure benefits for others in areas such as project contracting, business operations, land transfers, and capital turnover in exchange for bribes totaling over 2.2 billion yuan.

Between 2014 and 2016, while serving as executive deputy director, Yang conspired with others to embezzle 12 million yuan in public funds. From 2005 to 2023, he reportedly offered more than 25 million yuan in bribes to officials to gain improper advantages. During his term as director of the construction bureau in Jianing district from 2001 to 2002, he twice misappropriated a total of 15 million yuan from state-owned enterprise funds for use in private business operations.

Moreover, from 2003 to 2009, Yang, holding roles as construction bureau director and deputy head of the district’s development zone administrative committee, abused his power by unlawfully arranging land expropriations, demolitions, and construction projects, which caused significant social harm. The court also found that he illegally rebated land transfer fees, resulting in a state financial loss of 23 million yuan. Yang concealed and disguised 1 million yuan in criminal proceeds by lending the money to a company under his control.

The court determined that the vast scale of the bribes, the gravity of the circumstances, and the considerable losses inflicted on the state and society justified the death penalty. While Yang did report criminal activities by others—a fact recognized as meritorious service—the court ruled this did not warrant leniency given the seriousness and impact of his offenses.

The judicial process included public hearings on March 18 and April 28, during which prosecutors and Yang’s defense attorneys presented evidence and arguments. More than 30 individuals attended the proceedings.

Yang, 69, began his career in October 1976 at a local engine plant in Nanjing. He subsequently held several government posts, including head of the housing and urban-rural development bureau in Jianing district from 2000, deputy head of the district’s development zone committee in 2002, executive deputy director of the Nanjing development zone committee in 2012, and chairman of the Nanjing Niushou Mountain Cultural Tourism Company starting in 2016.

Under Chinese law, the death sentence issued by a lower court requires final approval by the Supreme People’s Court before it can be enacted.