DgcityA court in northeast China has sentenced Liu Shaoyong, the former chairman of state carrier China Eastern, to 14 years in prison for taking bribes worth more than 67.5 million yuan, or about 10 million dollars. The Shenyang Intermediate People’s Court also fined Liu 4 million yuan and ordered the confiscation of all illicit gains, in a verdict posted on the Supreme People’s Court website.
Liu was once one of the most prominent figures in Chinese aviation, a veteran industry executive who also led China Southern before taking the helm at China Eastern Air Holding, the parent of the country’s second-largest airline. Prosecutors said he exploited his positions to help others with business operations and approvals over a span of years.
The sentence lands amid a wide-ranging clean-up of state-owned enterprises under the leadership’s anti-corruption campaign, which has reached into banking, energy, semiconductors and transport. Senior executives at state firms are appointed through party channels and exercise authority over enormous procurement budgets, making the aviation sector, with its aircraft orders and supply contracts, a recurring source of graft cases.
Under Chinese law, bribe-taking of what courts classify as an especially large amount can carry life imprisonment or death, though sentences in the 12-to-15-year range have become common for officials who cooperate and return the money. The court said Liu’s guilty plea and the recovery of his illegal earnings were factored into the judgment.
The ruling closes a case that began when Liu was placed under investigation in late 2024, part of a wave of probes that has rattled the upper ranks of China’s centrally administered state enterprises.
Aviation has supplied Chinese anti-graft investigators with a steady caseload. Aircraft purchases involve multi-billion-dollar contracts with Boeing and Airbus, while airport slots, cargo handling, catering and ground-services licenses give executives countless points at which favors can be exchanged. Several senior officials at the civil aviation regulator and at rival airlines have been investigated in recent years, and industry conferences have become noticeably subdued occasions. Liu’s sentence also removes one of the last figures who shaped the sector during its explosive expansion, when Chinese carriers went from regional players to operating one of the world’s largest fleets.
