BEIJING (AP) – The former chairman of China’s major state bank behind Beijing’s initiative to build railways and ports in dozens of Asian countries has been sentenced to life in prison on charges of corruption, a court announced.
Hu Huaibang was convicted on Thursday after being convicted of taking 85.5 million yuan ($ 13.2 million) in bribes between 2009 and 2019, according to the Intermediate People’s Court of Chengde, a city north of Beijing. It said he used his post to help others get jobs and loans.
Hu was also the Communist Party Secretary of the China Development Bank, one of the world’s richest lenders.
The CDB is the primary source of funding for the multi-million dollar Belt and Road Initiative to expand trade by building railways, highways, ports, airports, power plants and other facilities in an arc of countries from the South Pacific to Asia, Africa and the Middle East to Europe.
The BRI has raised complaints that some countries have debts they cannot repay. There was no evidence that Hu’s prosecution was related to the BRI.
The court said Hu’s verdict was lenient because he confessed and handed over the bribe money.
Convictions for economic crimes in China sometimes lead to the death penalty.
In an unrelated case, former chairman of another government financial entity, Lai Xiaomin of Huarong Asset Management Co., was sentenced to death on Tuesday on charges of accepting bribes.