Allegations included misappropriating 15 million yuan of public funds for private business, causing 23 million yuan in direct economic losses from unauthorised demolitions and illegal land fee refunds, and attempting to launder 1 million yuan in 2023 via a company he controlled.

Yang held multiple roles in Nanjing from 1993 to 2023, including posts at the Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone, Jiangning District Construction Bureau, and Jiangning Economic and Technological Development Group.

A Chinese court sentenced Yang Youlin, a former Nanjing official, to death after finding he took more than 2.2 billion yuan in bribes over three decades, along with embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds, abuse of power, and money laundering.

Public access to the case included a public hearing process in March and April with more than 30 attendees.

The court ordered confiscation of all ill-gotten assets and proceeds to the state treasury.

Authorities found accomplices swindling funds, misappropriating state-owned enterprise funds, and illegally promoting land demolition and development projects, causing serious social harm.

Prosecutors said the offenses spanned multiple government and Communist Party roles; he was investigated by the CCDI in January 2025, expelled from the party, and charged accordingly.

The Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court delivered the sentence and also stripped Yang of personal assets and lifelong political rights.

The court described the offenses as extremely serious, causing massive losses to the state and people, which justified the death sentence and the lifelong deprivation of political rights and asset confiscation.

The first-instance judgment noted the particularly egregious nature of the bribes and their social impact.

The ruling includes life deprivation of political rights and confiscation of all personal property, with ill-gotten assets to be transferred to the state treasury.