Tang Renjian, former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in China, has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua.
A court in Jilin Province delivered the verdict on Sunday, stating that Tang had accepted cash and assets valued at more than 268 million yuan (approximately $37.6 million) while holding various government positions between 2007 and 2024.
The Changchun Intermediate People’s Court noted that Tang had confessed to his crimes, which contributed to the decision to suspend the death sentence for two years—a common practice in China that may lead to life imprisonment if the individual demonstrates good behavior during the reprieve period.
Tang was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) in November 2024, roughly six months after he was placed under investigation by the country’s top anti-corruption agency and subsequently removed from office.
His case is one of several recent high-profile anti-graft actions, including investigations into former Defence Ministers Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe. These developments are part of President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign, which began in 2020 and aims to ensure that officials in the country’s law enforcement and judicial systems remain “absolutely loyal, pure, and reliable.”
Before his role as agriculture minister, Tang served as governor of Gansu Province from 2017 to 2020, according to official government records
