A former transportation official in north China's Hebei Province has been sentenced to 14 years in prison with political rights deprived for three years on bribe-taking charges, sources said Thursday.

Zhang Quan, former deputy director of the Hebei Provincial Department of Transportation, was found guilty of taking bribes during the period of 2002 to 2004, sources with the Jingxian People's Court in Jingxian County in Hebei said.

The bribes included 1.623 million yuan (US$200,370) and US$1,000 in cash, 160,000 yuan worth of shares, and 5,000 yuan worth of shopping cards.

Approximately 1.7 million yuan of illicit money has been retrieved and turned over to the national treasury, sources said.

In mid-December last year, another transportation official in southwest China's Guizhou Province was executed on charges of taking millions of dollars in bribes.

Lu Wanli, former director of the Guizhou Department of Transportation, accepted more than 25.6 million yuan (US$3.2 million) worth of bribes from June 1998 through January 2002.

(Xinhua News Agency January 13, 2006)