On October 21, the Intermediate People’s Court of Jilin City in Jilin Province publicly announced its verdict in the bribery case of Wang Yongsheng, a former member of the Party Committee and vice president of the China Development Bank. The court sentenced Wang to 12 years in prison for accepting bribes and imposed a fine of 2 million yuan. Additionally, all assets and proceeds gained from his illegal activities will be confiscated and turned over to the state treasury.
Wang, born in 1958, was officially reported to be under investigation in July 2023, and earlier in January, he was expelled from the Communist Party of China. Allegations against him include accepting substantial benefits through covert means such as investments and stock holdings, using his official position to benefit others in loan financing and bond applications, and improperly holding shares in non-listed companies.
The court’s investigation revealed that from 2010 to 2019, Wang leveraged his roles as the Party Secretary and President of the Liaoning Provincial Branch of the China Development Bank, as well as his position as a vice president at the bank, to facilitate loan financing, bond purchases, and personnel arrangements for various entities. In return for these services, he illegally accepted bribes totaling over 23.51 million yuan.
The court concluded that Wang’s actions constituted the crime of bribery on a particularly large scale, warranting legal punishment. However, it also noted that Wang provided truthful accounts of his crimes after his arrest, disclosed additional bribery offenses that were not previously known to investigators, admitted his guilt, expressed remorse, and actively returned all illicit proceeds. Taking these mitigating factors into account, the court decided to impose a lighter sentence.
