Former executive of China's oil giant sentenced to 14 years for bribery

Xu Wenrong, former deputy general manager of China National Petroleum Corporation, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for bribery, a court in Liaoning province said on Friday.

Xu was also given a fine of 3.5 million yuan ($500,000), with his illicit gains and relevant interests confiscated and turned over to the national treasury, according to the ruling announced by the Shenyang Intermediate People's Court.

From 1998 and 2023, Xu was found to have taken advantage of his work positions, including general manager of Bureau of Geophysical Prospecting Inc, China National Petroleum Corporation and deputy general manager of the corporation, to help relevant departments and individuals to seek profits in various matters such as project contracting, equipment purchase, business operation and job promotion, and then he accepted bribes of over 53.29 million yuan in return, the court said.

It noted that Xu's behavior has constituted the crime of bribery, and the amount he accepted was extremely large.

"Considering he pleaded guilty, voluntarily confessed to bribery instances not yet known to the investigators and returned all illicit gains, we've leniently punished him," it added.

Xu, 63, was placed under disciplinary and supervisory investigation in June 2023 and expelled from the Communist Party of China in January this year.

In April, he was indicted by the Shenyang prosecutors for bribery, and his case was publicly heard in June.