19 January 2009 :
the former head of a university in Zhejiang province, China, was sentenced to death, suspended for two years, in what is believed to be the biggest academic corruption case on the mainland in over a decade. Xia Jinrong, former deputy president of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, was put in charge of a housing development project worth 1.4 billion yuan. He was indicted for receiving 6.5 million yuan in kickbacks in collusion with Shen Ding, director of a design institute affiliated to the university. Xia was also convicted of taking 1.22 million yuan in bribes.