In a significant ruling against financial corruption, a Chinese court has sentenced Zhang Gengsheng, former vice-president of China Construction Bank (CCB), to 18 years imprisonment for bribery and illegal lending practices. The Zibo Intermediate People’s Court in Shandong province delivered the verdict on Wednesday, additionally imposing a substantial fine of 4.1 million yuan ($589,000).
The court delineated separate sentences for each offense: 13 years imprisonment with a 4 million yuan fine for accepting bribes, and 10 years with a 100,000 yuan penalty for illicit loan issuance. The combined sentence reflects the severity of the crimes committed by the former banking executive.
Judicial investigations revealed that between 2006 and September 2019, Zhang systematically exploited his executive positions—progressing from general manager of a client department to vice-president—to provide unlawful advantages to various entities and individuals. His corrupt activities involved manipulating loan credit approvals and facilitating improper job adjustments in exchange for monetary benefits totaling over 40.64 million yuan in property and cash.
Particularly egregious were Zhang’s actions between late 2016 and April 2017, when he authorized substantial loans to unqualified borrowers despite being fully aware of their non-compliance with lending standards. These transactions resulted in exceptionally significant financial losses for the state-owned banking institution.
The court acknowledged several mitigating factors that contributed to a relatively lenient punishment considering the magnitude of the crimes. Zhang demonstrated cooperation by providing truthful confessions, voluntarily disclosing previously unknown criminal activities to investigators, and actively returning illegal gains. Authorities have successfully recovered most of the bribes and associated interest, which will be transferred to the state treasury.
Zhang’s professional trajectory shows a long-standing career with CCB, where he served as vice-president from April 2013 and held concurrent positions as executive director and vice president from 2015 until his retirement in December 2020. Following his banking career, the 65-year-old Anhui native briefly served as an external director for State Grid Corp. of China before being placed under investigation in November 2024.