Former defense industry official jailed 10 years for bribery

Zhang Jianhua, former deputy head of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for bribery-related crimes by a court in Sichuan province on Wednesday.

The Dazhou Intermediate People's Court sentenced Zhang to eight years in prison and fined him 3 million yuan ($444,543) for accepting bribes. He was also sentenced to five years in prison and fined 800,000 yuan for using his influence to accept bribes.

The court combined the sentences, imposing a total prison term of 10 years and a cumulative fine of 3.8 million yuan. Zhang's illegal gains and related assets have been confiscated and will be turned over to the State treasury.

The court found that from 2008 to 2025, Zhang took advantage of his positions in the administration to seek benefits for others in matters including administrative approvals and equity investments in exchange for bribes totaling more than 43.38 million yuan.

The court also found that from 2021 to 2025, after his retirement, Zhang exploited the influence of his former positions to help others obtain improper benefits in business operations and project contracting, accepting more than 11.7 million yuan in bribes.

According to the court, Zhang's conduct constituted the crimes of accepting bribes and using influence to accept bribes, and the amounts involved were extremely large.

The court said it gave Zhang a lighter sentence after considering several mitigating factors. Some of the bribes he solicited were not successfully obtained. He also voluntarily surrendered, confessed to additional bribery offenses that investigators had not uncovered, and actively returned his illegal gains.

Public records show that Zhang, 65, is a native of Jiangsu province. He began his career in 1983 and joined the Communist Party of China in May 1986. Before being placed under investigation in May 2025, he had worked in China's national defense system for decades. He was expelled from the Party in October last year, prosecuted on bribery-related charges in February, and stood trial on April 16.