Suspended death sentence handed down to official

Li Xinyuan, former Party secretary of Guigang city, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was given a suspended death sentence by a local court on Wednesday after he was convicted of taking bribes of more than 170 million yuan ($24.4 million).

The Intermediate People's Court in Nanning, capital of Guangxi, sentenced Li to death with a two-year reprieve for the crime of bribery. It also stripped his political rights and ordered that all his personal property be confiscated.

From 2003 to 2021, Li took advantage of his work positions, including as mayor of the region's Qinzhou city and Party secretary of Guigang, to provide benefits for individuals and departments in project contracting, land development and job transfers. He accepted more than 170 million yuan in return, according to the court.

Li's actions constituted the crime of bribery, and the amount of bribes was "extremely large", the court said, adding that he should be harshly punished.

"But considering he voluntarily spoke out about many bribes that investigators had not known about and returned major parts of his illicit gains, confessing to the crimes, he could be leniently penalized," the court added.

Li, 60, a native of Jiangsu province, started his career in a factory in Guangxi in 1980. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1989. He had served multiple positions in Guangxi and became the Party chief of Guigang in 2015.

He was placed under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and the law in March 2021. Eight months later, he was prosecuted by the intermediate court, and in December, he stood trial in the court and pleaded guilty to bribery.