The former deputy head of China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Li Chunliang, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in a first-instance trial for bribery and influence peddling.

According to information obtained from China's Supreme People's Court, the Intermediate People's Court of Dezhou City in Shandong Province publicly announced the verdict on July 22nd. The court sentenced Li Chunliang to life imprisonment for the crime of accepting bribes, with deprivation of political rights for life and confiscation of all personal property. For the crime of using his influence to accept bribes, he was sentenced to four years in prison and fined 300,000 yuan. The combined sentence is life imprisonment, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property. All illicit assets obtained from his crimes and any accrued interest will be recovered and turned over to the state treasury.

Public records show that Li Chunliang was born in February 1963 in Bazhou, Hebei province. Official announcements in May 2025 stated he was under investigation, and in November, it was announced he had been expelled from the Communist Party. He was accused of violations including "improperly accepting renovation services provided by entities under his management and service" and "engaging extensively in power-for-money transactions."

The court's investigation found that from the second half of 2002 to May 2022, Li Chunliang exploited his positions, which included roles such as head and deputy head of various departments within the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and later as a leading member and deputy head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. He used the conveniences and influence derived from these roles to assist others with business operations, project contracts, and promotions, illegally accepting money and property worth over 84.65 million yuan.

Furthermore, from October 2023 to the end of December 2024, after leaving his posts, Li Chunliang used the residual influence from his former senior positions to seek benefits for others by leveraging the official actions of other state functionaries, illegally accepting a further 3.05 million yuan.

The court determined that Li Chunliang's actions constituted the crimes of bribery and using influence to accept bribes. The amount of bribes involved was deemed particularly huge and caused particularly significant losses to state and public interests, warranting punishment according to law. The court considered mitigating factors, including that part of the bribery was attempted, his truthful confession after being detained, his voluntary disclosure of some bribery facts not yet known to investigators, his surrender concerning the influence-peddling charges, his expression of remorse, and his active return of illicit gains. These circumstances led to a lighter sentence for bribery and a reduced sentence for using influence to accept bribes.

The Dezhou Intermediate People's Court had held a public trial for this case on April 29th this year, during which Li Chunliang pleaded guilty and expressed remorse.