【Business Circle】Major Corrupt Official Receives Death Reprieve for Over 700 Million Embezzlement; Tan Ruisong, Leader of Trillion-Yuan Military-Industrial SOE, on Point of No Return (Updated)

【Caixin Exclusive Data Report】 Over a year ago, former “top leader” of AVIC, Tan Ruisong, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in the first trial for his massive corruption and bribery totaling up to 700 million yuan.

On March 25, 2026, the Intermediate People’s Court of Dalian, Liaoning Province, publicly announced the first-instance verdict for Tan Ruisong, former Party Secretary and Chairman of China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC). The specific penalties include:

• Embezzlement: 15 years in prison and a fine of 5 million RMB;
• Bribery: death penalty with a two-year reprieve, lifelong political rights deprivation, and confiscation of all personal property;
• Insider trading and leaking insider information: six years in prison, a fine, and a death sentence with a two-year reprieve, lifelong political rights deprivation, and confiscation of all personal property;
• Restitution of embezzled assets to the victim units, recovery of bribe-related assets and interest according to law, and confiscation of illegal gains from insider trading.

According to the Dalian Intermediate Court’s review, from July 2003 to 2010, Tan Ruisong used his positions as Deputy General Manager of AVIC Second Group and Vice General Manager of AVIC to illegally embezzle a total of 89.93 million yuan of public funds. From 1998 to 2024, while serving as Deputy General Manager and General Manager of Harbin Dongan Engine (Group) Co., Ltd., Chairman of Harbin Aviation Industry (Group) Co., Ltd., Vice General Manager of AVIC Second Group, and other roles, he provided assistance to others in corporate mergers, acquisitions, and project contracting, receiving illegal assets totaling over 613 million yuan. From March 2012 to March 2023, as an insider with knowledge of sensitive information, he engaged multiple times in securities transactions related to insider information during sensitive periods, leaked insider information multiple times, explicitly and implicitly encouraged others to trade securities based on insider information, with particularly serious circumstances.

Therefore, Tan Ruisong’s actions constitute crimes of embezzlement, bribery, insider trading, and leaking insider information. Among them, the amounts involved in embezzlement and bribery are especially large, causing particularly serious losses to the state and the people; the insider trading and leaking insider information are particularly severe, warranting combined penalties. However, his bribery crime involved attempted offenses, and he truthfully confessed his crimes upon arrest, voluntarily disclosed embezzlement facts and some of the bribery, insider trading, and leaking insider information facts not yet known to authorities; his embezzlement crime qualifies as a confession, showing significant meritorious conduct; he has shown remorse, actively returned stolen assets, and all embezzled and bribe-related assets and interest have been recovered. Therefore, the death penalty for his bribery conviction can be suspended, and lighter penalties can be applied for his embezzlement, insider trading, and leaking insider information crimes.

The Dalian Intermediate Court held a hearing on October 30, 2025, and Tan Ruisong made his final statement in court, confessing and repenting. (See Caixin.net report “Embezzlement and Bribery Exceeding 700 Million Yuan, Former AVIC ‘Top Leader’ Tan Ruisong Sentenced to Death with a Reprieve.”)

In August 2025, nearly a year after being placed under investigation, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate announced that the 63-year-old former AVIC chairman was prosecuted for suspected corruption, bribery, insider trading, and leaking insider information. At that time, the prosecution’s charges of “engaging in insider trading and leaking insider information” drew significant attention from the capital market. (See Caixin.net “Anti-corruption Record | Engaging in Securities Trading During Sensitive Periods, Tan Ruisong Prosecuted”) Now, the first-instance verdict finally confirms the case conclusively.