Chinese legal community asks: where is the line on death penalty for corrupt officials?

Inner Mongolia court dismisses appeal by party official who pleaded guilty to pocketing more than US$422 million and was sentenced to death

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Even though millions of officials have been caught up in China’s anti-corruption campaign, it is rare for death sentences not to be suspended in corruption cases. Photo: Shutterstock Images

Published: 4:00pm, 8 Sep 2024Updated: 6:46pm, 8 Sep 2024

China may see more death sentences handed down to corrupt officials in the future as President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption efforts reach into lucrative sectors and the spoils of corruption rise, according to Chinese law practitioners and observers.

The Chinese legal community’s latest discussion about standards for the death penalty come after a court in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region upheld the death sentence of a local official who pleaded guilty to pocketing more than 3 billion yuan (US$422 million) in total.

On August 27, Inner Mongolia’s regional high court dismissed an appeal by Li Jianping, 64, former party secretary of the economic and technological development zone in Hohhot, the region’s capital city, according to its website.

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Li’s death sentence is awaiting final approval by the Supreme People’s Court in keeping with a practice observed since 2006.

Li was also found guilty of condoning a local mafia organisation that carried out numerous illegal and criminal activities.

Even though more than 4 million officials have been caught up in China’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign since Xi Jinping came to power at the end of 2012, it is rare for death sentences not to be suspended in corruption cases.

Li is only the third known case among officials handed the death penalty in the past decade. The others were Lai Xiaomin and Bai Tianhui, the former chairman and general manager of China Huarong International Holdings, one of the country’s largest state-controlled asset management firms.

Lai was put to death by a court in the northern city of Tianjin in January 2021 after he was indicted for taking almost 1.8 billion yuan in bribes, as well as other forms of corruption and bigamy. His former subordinate Bai was handed the death penalty in May for accepting bribes exceeding 1.1 billion yuan.