Former Vice Chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Political Consultative Conference of the Chinese Communist Party, Liu Kuanren, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the crimes of bribery and corruption. In May last year, Liu Kuanren, while in office, was investigated, becoming the first high-ranking official from a “democratic party” to fall from grace in 2025. He is also the third deputy provincial-level “tiger” in Shaanxi Province to be investigated since the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
On August 31, the Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court in Xinjiang publicly pronounced the first-instance verdict of the bribery and corruption case of Liu Kuanren, former Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League and former Vice Chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Political Consultative Conference. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison for bribery and fined 3 million yuan (RMB, the same below), sentenced to 6 years in prison for corruption with a fine of 500,000 yuan, totaling a 15-year imprisonment term and a fine of 3.5 million yuan.
The court stated that from the first half of 2006 to April 2025, Liu Kuanren used his positions as Deputy Director and Director of the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Culture, member and Vice Chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Political Consultative Conference, Chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the China Democratic League, and Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League to provide assistance in project contracting and job promotions for relevant units and individuals, directly or through others, illegally accepting a total of more than 41.46 million yuan.
From November 2013 to December 2017, Liu Kuanren took advantage of his position as Director of the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Culture, using fabricated performance facts, signing false contracts, and overstating expenses to embezzle and defraud public funds totaling more than 7.39 million yuan.
Liu Kuanren fell from grace while in office in May last year; he was removed from his public office in November of the same year and transferred to judicial authorities. On June 12 of this year, the Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court held a public trial for the case.
Public records show that Liu Kuanren is from Pucheng, Shaanxi, born in 1963. He has held various positions such as Deputy Head of the Folk Music Department of Xi’an Conservatory of Music, Director of the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Culture, and began serving as Vice Chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Political Consultative Conference of the Chinese Communist Party in 2018 until being investigated.