Ex-official sentenced to jail for corruption

Zhang Lijun, former vice-minister of environmental protection, was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday for taking bribes worth 2.43 million yuan ($357,000), a local court in Beijing ruled.

Zhang, 64, was also fined 500,000 yuan ($73,500) and all his ill-gotten gains were confiscated, according to the verdict of the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court.

The verdict said Zhang abused his power to gain benefits for others on product sales, project approvals, job promotions and hiring the children of other officials, and accepted bribes between 1998 and 2013.