Former senior Xinjiang official receives sentence

Li Pengxin, a former senior official of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes totaling more than 822 million yuan ($112 million), according to a verdict on Tuesday.

The verdict was announced by the Intermediate People's Court in Baoji, Shaanxi province. It noted that after the two-year reprieve period, the death sentence for Li, former deputy secretary of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China, would be commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of further commutation or parole.

Li, 65, is a native of Shanxi province. He started his career in 1977 and joined the Party in 1984.

From 1999 to 2023, Li held a series of leadership positions, including head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee, head of the Organization Department of the CPC committee in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and deputy secretary of the CPC Xinjiang committee.

The verdict said through an investigation, it was discovered that Li was using his various positions to assist organizations and individuals in matters such as mineral exploration, business operations and official appointments.

Li, directly or through others, illegally accepted property equivalent to more than 822 million yuan from these organizations and individuals.

He was expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office for seriously violating Party discipline and laws in June.