A Chinese court on Wednesday sentenced Tan Ruisong, the former chairman of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, to death with a two-year reprieve for corruption, part of a wider campaign against graft in China’s military-industrial complex.
The former aerospace defence executive was found guilty of embezzlement, bribery, insider trading and leaking insider information, a court in the country’s northeastern province of Liaoning said on Wednesday.
Tan, the former boss of China’s top military aviation company, siphoned in over 700 million yuan ($101.45 million) while holding various posts in the aerospace industry over three decades, the court’s first-instance judgment showed.
Tan, 64, was the chairman and Communist Party secretary of state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) – China’s leading military aircraft maker – from 2018 until his retirement in March 2023.
The statement said Tan pleaded “guilty and showed repentance.”
He is one of the most prominent defence sector executives to come under investigation in President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign, which has cut a swathe through the top ranks of the military-industrial complex.
Tan was expelled from the ruling Communist Party in February 2025 for corruption. He “lived off the military sector” and took a huge amount in bribes, China’s anti-graft watchdog said at the time.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched a years-long anti-corruption purge in the country’s military, in which the nation’s top generals, senior military officials, former defence ministers and industry elites have been ousted, probed and prosecuted.
Last month, three Chinese lawmakers with ties to the defence sector were removed from their positions in the country’s parliament. Tan’s successor at AVIC, Zhou Xinmin, was ousted along with nuclear-weapons researcher Liu Cangli and Luo Qi, the chief engineer of state-owned nuclear-power giant China National Nuclear Corp.
AVIC produces most of China’s military aircraft and drones.
Tan embezzled public funds and “took advantage of his positions … helping others in matters including corporate mergers and acquisitions and project contracting,” according to the statement released by the court. He also repeatedly leaked insider information and “induced others to engage in securities trading related to inside information,” it said.
The court has decided to deprive Tan of political rights for life and to confiscate all of his personal property, the statement showed.
In mid-March, Yang Wei’s profile and biography were abruptly scrubbed from the website of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He was also reportedly removed from the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) roster.
J-20 chief designer Yang Wei was shot dead on the spot, not even sentenced, when the J-20 test flight exploded in front of Xi Jinping after the Iran war, India-Pakistan war and Venezuela debacle.
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