On Wednesday, Li Chunsheng, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 4 million yuan ($555,555) for bribery by the Chenzhou Intermediate People's Court in Chenzhou, Hunan province.

The court also confiscated the properties and money that the former official obtained from the bribery, plus interest, in accordance with the law.

According to the verdict, Li was found to have taken advantage of his various posts to siphon bribes valued at more than 79.4 million yuan, including some that he had not ultimately obtained, between the second half of 2001 and May 2022. Li provided assistance to relevant units and individuals in enterprise operations, project promotion, engineering contracting, job promotion, and related matters.

The verdict said Li's behavior constituted the crime of bribery with a particularly large sum. His crimes caused significant losses to the interests of the country and the people.

The verdict went on to say that considering some of Li's bribery attempts were unsuccessful and that he voluntarily confessed his crimes, including information that the investigating authorities had not been aware of, he has been given a mitigated punishment according to law.

Before Li was promoted to vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress, he was vice-governor of Guangdong and director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Public Security.