Former hospital president in Guangxi sentenced to 22 years for corruption

A former hospital president in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for corruption.

Guan Yingyong, the former Party chief and president of the First People's Hospital of Yulin, was found guilty of taking bribes totaling 56.6 million yuan ($7.9 million), embezzling public funds, and abusing his power, according to a statement from the Yulin People's Court on Wednesday.

Guan, who studied clinical medicine and worked as an anesthesiologist for over a decade, held various management positions, including president of Yulin Health School, before becoming president of the First People's Hospital of Yulin in 2003.

The court found that Guan used his positions of authority to facilitate contracts for hospital projects, procure medical consumables and medicine, and receive bribes in exchange. He abused his power to lend out 80 million yuan of public funds to a private company and illegally facilitated the acquisition of a subsidiary company of a state-owned enterprise, resulting in losses of 87.6 million yuan in state assets.

In addition to his prison sentence, Guan was fined 6.5 million yuan. The bribes he had taken, along with the interest generated from those, have been confiscated and turned over to the state treasury.

The court noted that Guan had taken bribes of extremely large amounts and abused his power as a public official, warranting severe punishment. However, the court also acknowledged Guan's confession of his crimes and the return of some of the bribes, which resulted in a slightly lenient sentence.

Guan was first placed under investigation for corruption in February this year and went on trial in May.