Former Chinese agriculture minister is sentenced to death for graft

BEIJING: 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 $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, 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 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 to assist others in matters such as business operation, project contracting and job adjustment. Tang pleaded guilty and expressed remorse in his final statement.

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 (CCP) after President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.