The Chinese legal community is asking: Where is the line for the death penalty for corrupt officials?

The latest debate in the Chinese legal community over the standards of the death penalty comes after a court in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region upheld the death sentence of a local official who pleaded guilty to embezzling a total of more than 3 billion yuan ($422 million).

On August 27, the Inner Mongolia Regional High Court rejected the appeal of Li Jianping, 64, former party secretary of the economic and technological development zone in Hohhot, the region’s capital, the court’s website said.

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Li’s death sentence still awaits final approval by the Supreme Court, a practice that has been in place since 2006.