Former Guangdong official sentenced to 13 years in jail for bribery

FUZHOU -- Li Jia, former Party chief of Zhuhai City in southern China's Guangdong Province, has been sentenced by a court Friday to 13 years for taking bribes.

The court also fined Li 2 million yuan ($310,000), and his illicit gains will be turned over to the state treasury, according to the verdict announced by the Intermediate People's Court of Zhangzhou City in Fujian Province, eastern China.

Li, also a former Standing Committee member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Guangdong Provincial Committee, took advantage of his positions to help others with business operations and gain promotions.

He accepted money and valuables worth nearly 20.59 million yuan personally or through others between 2011 and 2016, the court said.

Li had also served as the Party chief and mayor of Meizhou City in Guangdong Province.

Li confessed his crimes and returned his illegal gains willingly, all grounds for leniency, according to the verdict.

The discipline inspection agency of the CPC announced last March that Li had been expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office following a corruption investigation.