Former official sentenced for bribery

Zhao Zhengyong, former Party chief of Shaanxi province, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve by a court in Tianjin on Friday for taking bribes of more than 717 million yuan ($103 million).

The Tianjin No 1 Intermediate People's Court said in a ruling that Zhao cannot be given a commutation or released on parole, even if his suspended death penalty is reduced to a life sentence, and he has to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Zhao was deprived of political rights for life and all his properties were confiscated, it said.