Former Heilongjiang official gets life for bribe taking

A former vice-chairman of the Heilongjiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was sentenced to life imprisonment for bribe taking by the intermediate people's court of Wuxi city, Jiangsu province on Tuesday, Xinhua News Agency has reported.

The court also deprived Li Haitao of political rights for life and confiscated all of his property, while some proceeds from his crimes were turned over to the state treasury. Efforts to recover the rest of the proceeds are continuing.

According to the court, from 2003 to 2023, Li took advantage of his position in unlawfully accepting a total of 150 million yuan ($21.78 million) to favor companies and individuals involved in project development, contracting and enterprise mergers.

The court said the large financial amounts involved resulted in significant harm to the interests of the country and the people. However, the fact that Li confessed to his crimes, pled guilty, showed remorse and returned some of the proceeds from his offences was taken into account during sentencing.

Li's trial was heard in public in September last year, during which procurators presented relevant evidence, before Li made a final statement and confessed to his crimes.