Former vice-governor of Yunnan sentenced for life

Zhang Zulin, former vice-governor of Southwest China's Yunnan province, received a life sentence for accepting more than 122 million yuan ($17 million) in bribes, a court in Chongqing announced on Thursday.

The Chongqing No 1 Intermediate People's Court also ruled that Zhang be deprived of political rights for life and that all his personal assets be confiscated. His illicit gains and related interests were ordered to be turned over to the State treasury.

According to the court, Zhang abused his positions from 2001 to 2023 in Yunnan — including as mayor of Kunming and deputy governor of the province — to seek benefits for individuals and organizations in various matters such project contracting and real estate development. In return, he accepted bribes totaling more than 122 million yuan.

The court found Zhang guilty of bribery and said the amount of money involved was "extremely large", resulting in "extremely great losses" to the country and the people. His crimes warranted severe punishment, the ruling said.

Given that some of his bribery proceeds were not obtained, he confessed to the crime, voluntarily disclosed most of the bribery facts not yet known to the supervisory authorities, and actively returned the illicit gains, and reported others' major criminal acts, the court said it decided to leniently punish him with the life imprisonment sentence.

Zhang, born in June 1959 in Zhaotong, Yunnan, began working in 1977 and joined the Communist Party of China in 1985. He served as the vice-governor of Yunnan province from 2014 until the end of his term in 2022.

He was placed under investigation in March 2024, and expelled from the Party in September that year.

The court publicly heard the case in April.