The Tianjin No 1 Intermediate People’s Court on Wednesday sentenced Ji Wenlin, the former vice governor of south China’s Hainan Province, to 12 years in prison on corruption charges. The former government official was found [Xinhua report] to have used his office to collect millions in bribes and assetss to benefit himself and others. His case is one of many [Reuters report] brought by China’s communist party [official website] to end corruption. Ji was the Mayor of Haikou and the vice-Governor of Hainan before he was removed [Reuters report] in 2014.

The Chinese government has increased the prosecution of domestic corruption increased following the appointment of President Xi Jinping [BBC profile] in 2013. In February the Hangzhou Christian Council announced [JURIST report] that a prominent Chinese Pastor is under investigation for corruption involving the embezzlement of state funds. In November a Chinese court jailed a top aide to the country’s former security chief [JURIST report] Zhou Yongkang on corruption charges. In October Chinese state media reported that the former head of the country’s biggest oil firm was sentenced to 16 years in prison [JURIST report] for corruption. In September prosecutors in China announced that they will be investigating former China Supreme Court justice Xi Xiaoming on corruption charges [JURIST report]. In August a former general in China’s People’s Liberation Army, Gu Junshan, was sentenced [JURIST report] by a Chinese military court to death with a two year reprieve for corruption charges.