Former Chinese official sentenced to death for $41 million corruption

A former Chinese official has been sentenced to death for corruption involving $41 million, the Jingzhou Intermediate People's Court in Hubei Province announced on August 11.

Long Xiang, the former head of the Nanjing Municipal People's Congress, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery, embezzlement, abuse of power and insider trading. He is accused of corruption involving a total of about $41 million.

The court ordered his lifelong political disqualification and the confiscation of all his personal assets. At the first instance court, Long Xiang was sentenced to nine years in prison and a fine of 1 million yuan ($148,000) for embezzlement of state property. He was sentenced to nine years in prison for abuse of power and five years in prison and a fine of 1 million yuan for insider trading.

The court combined all the sentences and issued a final verdict. The illegal proceeds from bribery and other crimes will be returned to the state treasury and the affected organizations.

According to the court, Long Xiang held various high-ranking positions from January 2009 to March 2025. He used his position to help companies and individuals obtain projects and other matters. In return, he received a total of more than 261 million yuan ($38-39 million) in cash and property as bribes.

He also colluded with others to illegally receive 12 million yuan ($1.8 million) in subsidies from the Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone from 2014 to 2016. From 2009 to 2016, he concealed the perpetrators from investigation for his own benefit. This caused great harm to the state and society.

In 2017-2018, he illegally purchased more than 10.05 million yuan ($1.5 million) of shares using confidential financial information.

The court slightly reduced the sentence, taking into account his great merits, his confession, the disclosure of facts not known to the investigation, his remorse, and the return of all illegal funds. All assets obtained through bribery and embezzlement were fully recovered. A public hearing in this case was held on April 10, 2026. Earlier, it was reported that a Chinese man who poisoned his boss and colleagues for a salary reduction was sentenced to death.