Zhang Guoguang, formerly the governor of Hubei Province and deputy secretary of the Hubei provincial Communist Party committee, was sentenced on Thursday to 11 years in prison for accepting cash and gifts worth 572,288 yuan (US$69,200).

He accepted the bribes while holding positions of authority in northeast China's Liaoning Province from 1989 to 1999, according to the Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People's Court.

Zhang was also convicted of abusing his power to help a company in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province, to obtain bank loans and construction contracts through under-the-table trading; and of seeking personal benefits by promoting selected local officials, including former Shenyang vice mayor Ma Xiangdong.

Dozens of Shenyang officials have been brought down for bribe-taking and other offenses since 2000.

Former Shenyang Mayor Mu Suixin, found guilty of taking bribes totaling 6.6 million yuan (US$797,000) and failing to account for assets worth 2.7 million yuan (US$326,000), was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in 2001. A suspended death sentence is often commuted to life imprisonment.

Ma Xiangdong, convicted of gambling away 40 million yuan (US$4.8 million) in public funds in Macao, was sentenced to death and executed in December 2000.

(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn December 10, 2004)