Former Shaolin Temple's head sentenced to 24 years, state media reports

BEIJING - Shi Yongxin, former abbot of China's Shaolin Temple was sentenced to 24 years in prison for crimes including embezzlement and bribery, state media reported Friday.

Shi, 60, was charged in March this year after being placed under investigation in July last year.

A court in the central Chinese province of Henan handed the sentencing, saying Shi abused his roles to embezzle, misappropriate, and take and give bribes totaling around 300 million yuan ($44.33 million) over nearly three decades.

($1 = 6.7672 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Shi Bu and Liz LeeEditing by Tomasz Janowski)

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 8:04 AM.