In the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, the former secretary of the party-industry committee of the Hohhot economic and technological development zone, Li Jianping, has been executed.
According to ORDA reporting with reference to China Central Television, during his time in leadership positions Li Jianping embezzled more than 1.43 billion yuan (approximately $200 million) from the state.
In addition, the official accepted bribes totalling over 577 million yuan (more than $80 million) and misappropriated more than 1 billion yuan ($146 million).
Furthermore, Li Jianping was found guilty of aiding a criminal organisation. The court ruling noted that his actions caused "particularly serious damage to the interests of the state and the people".
The court sentence of execution was handed down in September 2022. After an appeal in August of this year, the Supreme People's Court of Inner Mongolia left the sentence unchanged. On 17 December, the death sentence was carried out.
For context, in August last year, the head of the Anti-Corruption Centre of the Abai region, Serik Baigaliyev, proposed introducing the death penalty for corruption offences in Kazakhstan.
According to him, success in the fight against corruption can only be achieved through stricter punishment for crimes. He cited Singapore as an example, which managed to transform significantly in a short period of time and become a developed global power.
In the author's opinion, if the death penalty is unacceptable, then severe punishment in the form of life imprisonment without the possibility of release should be applied for major corruption offences.