Ex-Bank of China boss given death sentence

The former head of a top Chinese bank has been given a suspended death sentence, the latest development in President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on corruption.

The former head of a top Chinese bank was handed a suspended death sentence for corruption on Tuesday, state media reported, the latest development in President Xi Jinping’s decade-long anti-graft campaign.

Liu Liange, former chairman of the Bank of China, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting “extremely large” bribes amounting to 121 million yuan ($25.7 million), state broadcaster CCTV said.

Liu’s sentence may be converted to life imprisonment after two years, according to Chinese law.

Liu Liange, former Party chief and chairman of Bank of China, was handed his sentence in a the Jinan Intermediate People’s Court in East China’s Shandong Province. Picture: People's Daily

Xi has overseen a wide-ranging crackdown on official corruption since coming to power just over a decade ago.

But critics say the policy has helped him purge political rivals. CCTV on Tuesday said Liu leveraged his positions in various financial institutions between 2010 and 2023 to give preferential treatment to organisations and individuals in return for money and property.

Liange’s arrest was part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on corruption. Picture: Evaristo Sa / AFP

“The bribery amount was exceptionally large, the criminal conduct was particularly severe, and the social impact was extremely harmful,” the broadcaster said.

Liu served from 2019 to 2023 as chairman of the Bank of China, one of the country’s “Big Four” state-owned banks.

The court in the eastern city of Jinan also handed Liu a 10-year prison sentence on Tuesday for illegally issuing loans worth over 3.32 billion yuan.

The bribery amount from the bank chairman was ‘exceptionally large’, broadcaster CCTV reported. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jono Searle

Liu’s death sentence was deferred because he had co-operated with the authorities’ investigations, helped return most of the stolen property and showed remorse, according to CCTV.

Liu is the latest high-ranking figure to face punishment in a long-running crackdown on corruption in China’s finance industry.

In October, former deputy governor of China’s central bank Fan Yifei was sentenced to life imprisonment for illegally receiving property worth 386 million yuan.

Bai Tianhui, a former executive at one of the country’s largest state-controlled asset management firms, was sentenced to death in May.