The magnitude of rampant corruption among Chinese government officials has sent an alarming signal to the Central Government and is posing a big threat to China’s stability. Although Beijing has launched anti-corruption campaigns year after year, the trend continues to get worse. The Shanghai Overseas Chinese Journal revealed China’s top 50 cases of corruption by officials in a July edition. The list included former Governor of Yunnan Province Li Jiating; former Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region Cheng Kejie; former Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee Chen Xitong; former Secretary of the Leading Party Group of the Ministry of Land and Resources Tian Fengshan; and former Deputy Minister of Public Security Li Jizhou.
Below are the top 10 cases of corruption
1) Yu Zhendong, Xu Chaofan, and Xu Guojun. The trio embezzled and transferred about $ 483 million overseas while they held senior management positions at the Kaiping City Branch of the Bank of China (BOC) in Guangdong province.
2) Chen Manxiong and Chen Qiuyuan, husband and wife. They are accused of embezzling and misappropriating more than 420 million yuan ($51 million) in public funds between 1993 and 1995 when they were in charge of Guangdong Zhongshan Industrial Development Co. Ltd.
3) Zhang Zonghai and Zhang Xiaochuan. While Zhang Zonghai was acting as Director of the Propaganda Department of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee, he used nearly 200 million yuan (~$24.1 million) in public funds for personal use and lost more than 100 million yuan (~$12.0 million) at the Lisboa Casino.
4) Jin Jianpei. During his term as former Director of the Hubei Provincial government’s office in Hong Kong and Macao, he was convicted of embezzling 188 million yuan (~$ 22.9 million). He was given the death penalty.
5) Chu Shijian and his company. As the former Chairman and President of the Hong Ta Group (China’s biggest state-owned tobacco company), Chu was sentenced to life imprisonment for embezzlement of 180 million yuan (~$21.9 million).
6) Yang Qianxian and associates. During Yang’s term as the head of Xiamen Customs, Yang accepted bribes of 160 million yuan (~$19.5 million) from Lai Changxin and turned a blind eye to Lai’s smuggling operation. Yang was given the death penalty.
7) Wei Huai and associates. During Wei’s term as manager for a Chinese investment company stationed in Macao, he accepted bribes of 93.3 million yuan (~$11.4 million). Pan Jierong and other colleagues also accepted million of dollars in bribes as well. They were sentenced to life imprisonment.
8) Wang Baosen, formerly Beijing’s Deputy Mayor, accepted bribes of 125 million yuan (~$15.2 million). He committed suicide in 1998.
9) Ye Jizhan, former President of the Fujian City Industry and Commerce Bank, accepted bribes of 106 million yuan (~$12.9 million). He provided assistance in the Yuan Hua smuggling case and was given the death penalty.
10) Yu Zhian, former head of the China Chang Jiang Energy Corporation (CCJEC), embezzled funds of 100 million yuan (~$12.1 million) for personal investment overseas. He has since fled China.
Yu Zhendong was escorted back to China for embezzling over $483 million from Bank of China.