ISTANBUL

China on Tuesday executed a 64-year-old former official who was convicted of bribery, state media reported.

Li Jianping, who served in the northern Inner Mongolia autonomous region, was convicted of corruption, bribery, misappropriation of public funds, and collusion with a criminal syndicate.

The 64-year-old official was given a death sentence in September 2022, which was upheld in August this year.

He was said to be involved in a corruption scandal involving $421 million. The former official served as secretary of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) working committee of the Hohhot Economic and Technological Development Zone.

China under President Xi Jinping has widened its probe into corruption including among high-ranking officials.

In a speech delivered in January but released to public on Sunday, Xi urged party cadres to confront corruption so that interest groups cannot “prey on” the CPC.

“If we don’t avoid criticism and don’t whitewash mistakes, and if we promptly identify and solve our own problems, we can effectively combat the preying and erosion of all interest groups, powerful groups and privileged classes,” Xi told a plenary session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the top anti-corruption body of the party.

The 71-year-old leader told officials earlier that China’s fight against corruption is “severe and complex” and that “no mercy” should be shown to eradicate the problem.