Former Hainan Party chief sentenced to 15 years for bribery

Former Hainan Party secretary Luo Baoming was sentenced to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes totaling more than 113 million yuan ($16 million), a Shanghai court announced Tuesday.

The Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court also fined Luo 5 million yuan and ordered that his illegal gains and related interests be turned over to the State treasury.

The court said Luo abused his positions between 1995 and 2024 — including serving as Hainan's Party secretary, governor of the province and deputy head of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee of the 13th National People's Congress — to seek benefits for departments and individuals in matters such as project contracting, bank loans and business cooperation. In return, he accepted bribes worth more than 113 million yuan.

The court said Luo's actions constituted the crime of bribery and warranted severe punishment because the amount involved was "extremely large" and the losses to the country and the people were "extremely huge".

However, the court said it showed leniency because Luo voluntarily surrendered, confessed his crimes, made unsuccessful attempts at bribery, provided key clues in other major cases and returned all illicit proceeds.

Luo, 73, a native of Tianjin, began his career in 1969 and joined the Communist Party of China in 1971. He held a series of posts in Tianjin during the 1990s before moving to Hainan in 2001. He became Party secretary of Hainan in August 2011.

In March 2018, Luo was appointed deputy head of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee of the 13th National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

In July 2024, Luo turned himself in to authorities and was placed under investigation. Early this year, he was expelled from the Communist Party. In June, he was indicted on bribery charges. The court publicly heard the case in September.