On a certain date, the Tianjin Second Intermediate People's Court publicly announced the verdict in the bribery case of Sun Zhigang, former Deputy Director of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the 13th National People's Congress and former Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee. Sun Zhigang was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for the crime of bribery, deprived of political rights for life, and ordered to forfeit all personal property. After the two-year reprieve period for his death sentence expires and it is legally commuted to life imprisonment, he will be subject to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or commutation of sentence. The assets and interest derived from Sun Zhigang's bribery that have been seized will be recovered according to law and turned over to the state treasury. Any shortfall will continue to be pursued.

The court has found that from the second half of the year to the month, the defendant Sun Zhigang, while serving as a member of the Standing Committee of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee and Secretary-General, a member of the Standing Committee of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee and Vice Governor, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, Deputy Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee and Governor, Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Standing Committee of the Guizhou Provincial People's Congress, and Deputy Director of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the 13th National People's Congress, took advantage of his positions and the convenience conditions formed by his authority and status to provide assistance to relevant units and individuals in matters such as project advancement, share subscription, project contracting, and real estate development. He directly or through others illegally accepted property from these units and individuals, totaling more than RMB . billion in equivalent value.

The Second Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin held that the defendant Sun Zhigang's actions constituted the crime of bribery. Sun Zhigang's bribery amount was exceptionally large, the criminal circumstances were particularly serious, the social impact was particularly bad, and it caused particularly significant losses to the interests of the state and the people, warranting the death penalty according to the law. Considering that Sun Zhigang had an attempted crime in his bribery offense, made significant meritorious contributions after being apprehended, truthfully confessed his crimes, voluntarily disclosed some bribery facts not yet known to the investigating authorities, pleaded guilty and expressed remorse, actively returned illicit gains, and most of the proceeds from bribery and their interest had been recovered, he had legal and discretionary mitigating circumstances, and his death sentence could be commuted to life imprisonment without immediate execution. Additionally, based on the facts and circumstances of Sun Zhigang's crime, it was decided that after the expiration of the two-year probationary period for his death sentence and his legal commutation to life imprisonment, he would be subject to lifelong imprisonment without the possibility of parole or commutation of sentence. The court thus rendered the above judgment.