Former legislator of Fujian sentenced to death

Su Zengtian, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Fujian Provincial People's Congress, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for multiple duty-related crimes, including bribery and abuse of power, by a court in Zhejiang province on Friday.

The Ningbo Intermediate People's Court sentenced Zeng to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery, concurrently imposing deprivation of political rights for life and confiscation of all his personal property. For accepting bribes by utilizing influence, he was also sentenced to nine years in prison and a fine of 2 million yuan. And for abuse of power, five years in prison.

The court decided to execute the penalty of death with a two-year reprieve, together with permanent deprivation of political rights and confiscation of all his personal property. All illegal gains and proceeds derived from Su's criminal acts will be turned over to the State treasury.

In China, an individual given a suspended death sentence will face life imprisonment if he or she does not commit new crimes during the two-year probation. Further sentence reduction will be provided if the criminal has good performance in prison.

According to the court, from 1996 to 2023, Su used his positions, including director of the Fujian Provincial Development and Reform Commission, vice-governor of Fujian, mayor of Fuzhou, capital of the province, and vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Fujian Provincial People's Congress, to assist relevant entities and individuals in various matters such as corporate listing, project contracting, and land expropriation and resettlement. In return, he accepted bribes worth over 165 million yuan ($23.34 million).

After his retirement, from 2019 to 2024, Su still used his influence from his former posts to seek improper benefits for others in matters like project contracting through other state functionaries' acts, accepting over 33.56 million yuan in return.

Additionally, between 2010 and 2011, during his tenure as Fujian's vice-governor and concurrently mayor of Fuzhou, he illegally approved low-cost land transfers and exempted land floor area ratio adjustment fees, causing significant losses to State-owned property.

The court determined that Su should be severely punished, as his bribery involved an extremely large amount and his abuse of power had particularly serious consequences.

Considering the attempted circumstances of his bribery, his truthful confession, voluntary disclosure of unreported bribery facts, and active return of stolen assets, the court added that it showed leniency in punishment.

A native of Fujian, the 71-year-old Su joined the Communist Party of China in 1975 and started working in 1978. He worked in Fujian throughout his career after graduating from university that year and stepped down as vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Fujian Provincial People's Congress in 2018.

He was placed under investigation in January 2024. In December that year, the Supreme People's Procuratorate announced his case was transferred to the Ningbo People's Procuratorate for review and prosecution. The court publicly heard the case in July.