The former vice chairman of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was sentenced to 18 years in prison for corruption and taking bribes, local authorities said Tuesday.

Sun Yu, 52, who served as the regional government vice chairman from 1998 to 2007, swindled 3.2 million yuan (468,521 U.S. dollars) from the regional government and accepted bribes worth 3.28 million yuan by helping others obtain raw materials and fulfill timber quotas, an Intermediate People's Court ruling of Nanning said Monday.

Most of the money had been handed in after Sun was arrested.

The court also confiscated 1 million yuan from Sun.

Sun was kicked out of the Communist Party of China and removed from government posts in October 2008.

Sun, of Han nationality, is a native of Yongning County in Guangxi. He joined the Party in 1976.

(Xinhua News Agency September 1, 2009)