TAIYUAN - A court in north China's Shanxi Province has sentenced a former senior executive of a coal mine to life in prison for receiving bribes, according to the Shanxi Higher People's Court.

The Intermediate People's Court of Linfen City handed down the life sentence on September 30 to Zhao Shenglong for his crimes, which included taking bribes totaling 8.29 million yuan (about $1.3 million) between 2000 and 2005.

Court sources said Zhao took advantage of his position as the vice president of Datong Coal Mine Group by issuing coal mining approvals after accepting bribes.

Additionally, Zhao could not prove the legitimacy of another 7.77 million yuan.