Ex-Party Top Official of China's Yunnan Province Sentenced to Death for Graft

Bai Enpei, former Communist Party secretary of China's Yunnan province, was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension of execution for taking bribes totaling to 246 million yuan ($37 million), local media reported.

BEIJING (Sputnik) — The court in Henan province found Bai guilty of grand corruption and stripped him of political rights, providing that death sentence might be replaced with life imprisonment if the case is reviewed, the CCTV broadcaster said.

Bai held secretary's position from October 2001 to August 2011.

After assuming office in 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched a large-scale campaign against corruption, primarily targeting high-level officials in the Communist Party, the armed forces and state-run enterprises.