Head of China's largest insurance firm sentenced to life in jail amid crackdown on corruption

Wang Bin, the former chairman of one of China's largest life insurance companies, has been handed a life sentence for corruption in a verdict by a court. This crackdown comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping has taken several measures to tighten control over China's financial sector as part of broader efforts to address financial risks, ensure stability in the Chinese economy, and consolidate his power. 

The 64-year-old Wang received a death sentence with a two-year reprieve, after which he will serve a life sentence without the possibility of commutation or parole, media reports said. This judgment was delivered by an intermediate court in Jinan, located in China's eastern Shandong province on Tuesday (September 12). 

Corruption charges

The court found Wang guilty of accepting approximately 325 million yuan ($44.6 million) in bribes and concealing overseas deposits worth 56.4 million yuan ($7.8 million).

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Wang faced allegations of accepting bribes from 1997 to 2021, a period during which he held leadership positions in various state-owned financial institutions, including China Life Insurance, China Taiping Insurance and China's Bank of Communications. He was accused of hiding the illicit funds in bank accounts located in Hong Kong.

Court ruling

“The amount of bribes Wang Bin accepted was particularly huge, the circumstances of the crime were particularly serious and the social impact was particularly bad,” the ruling said.

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The sentencing occurred over a year after Wang, who also held the top Communist Party position at China Life, came under investigation by the party's leading anti-graft agency.

This crackdown on financial industry leaders involves several prominent figures.

In 2021, there were significant legal actions and investigations involving several prominent figures in China. Lai Xiaomin, the former chairman of Huarong, a major state-controlled asset management company, was executed for corruption and bigamy.

Watch | China corruption crackdown: Former China life insurance Chief Wang Bin imprisoned

Hu Huaibang, the former chairman of China Development Bank, received a life sentence for an 85.5 million yuan bribery case. Bao Fan, a prominent billionaire banker and chief executive of China Renaissance Holdings, has been cooperating with authorities in an ongoing investigation since his disappearance in February.

An investigation into Liu Liange, the party chief of Bank of China, began in March, with suspicions of serious disciplinary and legal violations. Li Xiaopeng, the former chairman of China Everbright Group, also came under investigation in April.

Fan Yifei, a deputy governor of China's central bank, was arrested in June on suspicion of bribery and expelled from the Communist Party. These cases reflect China's commitment to taking actions in order to consolidate power.