High-ranking inspector convicted

Commerce ministry official gets death with reprieve for taking bribes

BEIJING - Guo Jingyi, a former high-ranking inspector of the treaty and law department of the Ministry of Commerce, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on Thursday for accepting 8.45 million yuan ($1.24 million) in bribes.

The sentence means Guo's behavior in prison will be assessed for two years, following which he will have a chance to appeal for leniency. In China, death sentences with reprieves are usually commuted to life imprisonment.