On December 20th, after nearly two years of investigation, former Deputy Governor of Shandong Province and former Chairman of the Political Consultative Conference in Qingdao, Ji Binchang, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery.
According to a report from the Wuxi Intermediate People’s Court in Jiangsu province, Ji Binchang was convicted of bribery and sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. He was also deprived of political rights for life and had all his personal property confiscated, with the money and interests gained from bribery all turned over to the state treasury.
Public records show that 61-year-old Ji Binchang has held various high-ranking positions in Shandong Province, including Deputy Director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shandong Province, Chairman and Party Secretary of Shandong Luxin Investment Holding Group, Party Secretary and Director of the Commission of Economy and Information Technology of Shandong Province, and Party Secretary and Director of the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Shandong Province.
He served as Deputy Governor of Shandong Province in 2020 and then moved to become the Party Secretary of the Communist Party Group of the Political Consultative Conference in Qingdao in March 2022, before being elected as the Chairman of the Political Consultative Conference in Qingdao in April of the same year.
In January last year, Ji Binchang was investigated, becoming the “first tiger” to fall in 2023. In July of the same year, he was expelled from the Communist Party and dismissed from public office. It has been reported that Ji Binchang holds the record for the highest amount of bribery among high-ranking officials in Shandong Province who fell from power and were convicted after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, with a total amount reaching 5.26 billion yuan.
The report from the court reveals that he abused his power for personal gain, seeking benefits for his son in investment and business operations, engaging in corrupt practices, conducting transactions involving power and money, and using his position to help others profit in areas such as equity investment and corporate financing, while illegally accepting large sums of money.