Former Chinese agricultural minister sentenced to death with two-year reprieve for corruption

China’s former minister of agriculture and rural affairs Tang Renjian was on Sunday sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes amounting to USD 38 million.

Tang, also a former secretary of the agricultural ministry’s leading ruling Communist Party members’ group, has been deprived of his political rights for life, the Intermediate People’s Court of Changchun in northeast China’s Jilin Province said in its judgment.

All of Tang’s personal property will be confiscated and his illegal gains from bribery recovered and turned over to the national treasury, the court said.

The court stated that between 2007 and 2024, Tang took undue advantage of his various positions at both central and local levels to assist others in matters such as business operation, project contracting and job adjustment.

In exchange, he accepted money and valuables totalling over 268 million yuan (about USD 38 million), state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Tang pleaded guilty and expressed remorse in his final statement.

The Changchun court ruled that Tang’s offences, which inflicted severe damage on the interests of the state and the people, warranted the death penalty.

Yet considering his cooperation in confessing to his crimes, returning illicit gains, and other mitigating factors, the court granted Tang leniency in its final judgment.

The case was heard at the court on July 25. During the trial, prosecutors, the defendant and his defence counsel cross-examined the evidence and gave their respective accounts, the Xinhua report said.

Over a million Chinese officials have been punished or disciplined in the massive anti-corruption campaign carried out by the ruling Communist Party of China, (CPC) after President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012. This includes dozens of top military officials.