Former Vice Chairman of the Heilongjiang Province Political Consultative Conference and former Vice Governor Li Haitao was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first instance, accusing him of accepting bribes exceeding 150 million yuan. In September 2023, Li Haitao was investigated while in office.
On March 17, the Intermediate People’s Court of Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, announced the first-instance verdict, sentencing Li Haitao, former member of the Heilongjiang Province Political Consultative Conference and vice chairman, to life imprisonment for accepting bribes, depriving him of political rights for life, and confiscating all his personal property.
The court stated that from 2003 to 2023, Li Haitao took advantage of his positions as the former Deputy Director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Economic and Trade Commission, Vice Secretary and Mayor of Jiamusi City, Secretary of the Daxing’anling District Committee, Secretary-General of the Heilongjiang Provincial Government, Secretary-General of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee and Vice Governor, Vice Chairman of the Heilongjiang Province Political Consultative Conference, and other positions to provide assistance to relevant units and individuals in project promotion, corporate mergers and acquisitions, and project contracts. He directly or through others illegally accepted a total of more than 150 million yuan.
In September 2023, Li Haitao was investigated while in office; in September 2024, he was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and dismissed from public office, and subsequently arrested; on September 26, 2025, the Wuxi City Intermediate People’s Court heard the case.
Public records show that Li Haitao was born in September 1963 in Bayan, Heilongjiang Province, and has been working in the province. He has held positions such as Deputy Director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Economic and Trade Commission, Deputy Director of the Provincial Economic Commission, Vice Secretary and Mayor of Jiamusi City, and Secretary of the Daxing’anling District Committee.
In April 2011, Li Haitao was appointed as Secretary-General of the Heilongjiang Provincial Government. In December 2013, he became Secretary-General of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee; in February 2014, he was appointed as a member of the Provincial Party Committee and Secretary-General; in April 2015, he also served as Secretary of the Provincial Working Committee and Director of the Provincial Party Committee’s Office for Deepening Reform.
In April 2016, Li Haitao became a member of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee, Vice Governor, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Government Party Group, and concurrently served as Secretary of the Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (until June 2017).
In January 2022, Li Haitao was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Heilongjiang Province Political Consultative Conference and Director of the Provincial Military-Civil Fusion Office, until he was investigated while in office.