Lai Changxing. File photo: Xinhua

Lai Changxing, the kingpin of a notorious smuggling racket in the 1990s and a former fugitive in Canada, was sentenced to life imprisonment Friday for smuggling and bribery in an open court in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province.

The sentence was handed down given the "extremely large sum of money" involved and the gravity of his offences. In addition, Lai was the ring's mastermind and should be held responsible for all the crimes his syndicate committed, said the Intermediate People's Court of Xiamen. The court stripped Lai of his political rights for life and confiscated all his personal assets. His illegal income would also be confiscated, the court said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Friday that Lai's trial has displayed the government's resolution to crack down on crime and corruption, and highlighted the significance of the legal cooperation with Canada.

"The verdict was proper and widely expected," Zhao Bingzhi, dean of the Law School at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times on Friday.

"The taxes the ring evaded were unprecedentedly large. The negative impact the case brought to China was also drastic. Lai deserves the penalty," Zhao said, citing the ring's disturbance to the customs supervision and domestic market, and corrupting public officials.

Lai, 54, was deported to Beijing on July 23 last year from Vancouver after 12 years of negotiations between Chinese authorities and Canada, following Lai's flight to Canada in 1999 with his wife, two sons and a daughter on a tourist visa.

From December 1995 to May 1999, Lai's syndicate smuggled cigarettes, cars, refined oil, vegetable oil, chemical materials, textile materials and other commodities worth 27.4 billion yuan ($4.35 billion) and evaded duties of 13.99 billion yuan, according to the court. 

To facilitate his illegal business, Lai and his associates bribed 64 government officials with 39.13 million yuan in cash, house property and cars between 1991 and 1999, the court said. In 2006, Lai built a seven-story complex in Xiamen, known as the "Red Mansion," where he entertained his associates with drink and girls.

Some commented that Lai was not sentenced to death because China had promised not to do so as part of the repatriation agreement with Canada. "That might be one reason. But another one is that smuggling is no longer a death penalty offence as of last May," Zhao said.

An amendment to the Criminal Law, which came into effect on May 1 last year, abolished the death penalty for 13 crimes, including smuggling relics and burglary.

Around 270 people have been charged in Lai's case over the last decade, with most being officials. More than 10 were sentenced to death, including the former head of the Xiamen Customs Bureau, Yang Qianxian and Ye Jichen, the former president of ICBC in Xiamen.

"The deportation and trial of Lai is significant for Chinese judicial cooperation with other countries and a demonstration to other fugitives," Zhao noted.

"No matter how powerful and cunning criminals are, once they commit crimes in China, they will be punished according to the law," Xinhua News Agency quoted an unidentified official as saying. "The authority of Chinese laws and the judicial sovereignty of China shall not be undermined and justice will be done."

In January, Li Dongzhe, an investment company owner, who is suspected of embezzling 293 million yuan from the Harbin branch of the Bank of China from 2000-2004, along with bank president Gao Shan and others, returned and delivered himself to the police, ending seven years on the run in Canada. Gao is still a fugitive in Canada after fleeing with Li in 2004.

"Without extradition treaties, the capture of these fugitives is difficult. Most Western countries haven't signed these treaties with China," noted Yang Cheng, who holds a chair in International Law at the University of Saint Joseph in Macao.

As of June 2009, China had signed 107 judicial assistance treaties with 63 countries, including extradition agreements with 22 countries, like Russia, South Africa and Spain.

At least 580 people accused of illegal fundraising, fraud and corruption have gone on the run in other countries, mostly in North America and Southeast Asia, the Ministry of Public Security said in 2010.

"One major reason is that the Western countries are skeptical about the Chinese judicial system. Indeed, some reports have left them with a bad impression," Yang said, noting that cases of forced confessions and judicial corruption are occasionally reported.

Zhao suggested that in addition to reducing the use of the death penalty and improving the judicial system, China needs to make more efforts to safeguard judicial independence and increase international cooperation.