China sentences former Hubei Party chief to death over bribery case

Jiang Chaoliang, previously a senior national legislator and Party chief of central China's Hubei Province, has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes, Xinhua reports.

Jiang was a member of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, and vice chairperson of the NPC Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.

After the two-year reprieve period expires, the sentence will be lawfully commuted to life imprisonment without commutation of sentence or parole, said a verdict from the Intermediate People's Court of Nanjing City in east China's Jiangsu Province.

The court also ordered that Jiang's political rights be deprived for life and the confiscation of all his personal property.

From 1995 to 2025, Jiang took advantage of his official positions to provide assistance to relevant units and individuals in matters such as business operations, project contracting, loan financing and personnel promotion. In return, he illegally accepted money and property totaling more than 746 million yuan (about 110 million US dollars), according to the verdict.

Jiang's bribery amount was particularly huge, and his conduct caused especially significant losses to the interests of the state and the people, for which his crimes warranted the death penalty in principle, the court said.

However, Jiang truthfully confessed his crimes after being taken into custody, voluntarily disclosed criminal facts not yet known to the investigators, offered information on other criminal cases, admitted his guilt, showed remorse and actively returned illicit proceeds. The bribes he received had been recovered. The court thus imposed a lenient sentence on him, the verdict noted.

The case was heard publicly by the court on May 28. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence, while Jiang and his defense counsel cross-examined the evidence and made their arguments. Jiang made a final statement in court, pleading guilty and expressing remorse.

By Vafa Guliyeva