The Changchun Intermediate People’s Court in the Jilin province fined him 1 million yuan ($140,650) and granted him a two-year reprieve from his death sentence after finding that he confessed to his crimes and voluntarily collaborated with investigations against him.

According to the court, between 2001 and 2020, Sun used his influence and sought profit for others, illegally accepted money and property worth 646 million yuan (over 90 million US dollars), and in 2018 manipulated the financial market in order to help other individuals to avoid losses.

He was found to be in possession of two illegal firearms and was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) for not “remaining committed to the organization’s ideals and faith, displaying grossly excessive political ambition, baselessly criticizing the party’s rules, and spreading political rumours.”

It was also reported that he “unscrupulously cultivated supporters and interest groups for personal gain, undermined Party unity and put political security at risk”.

Sun is the second high-ranking official to receive the death penalty in China for the second day in a row, as the same court handed down the sentence on Thursday for former Justice Minister Fu Zhenghua also for accepting bribes worth 117 million yuan (17.3 million dollars) and abuse of power.

Last June, the CPC reported that it had investigated and punished around five million people for corruption from its 18th congress in 2012 to April this year. Of that figure, 644,000 individuals were punished for violations of the party’s and government’s rules of conduct, while 74,000 voluntarily surrendered to the disciplinary bodies.

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