Ex-senior official is sentenced to 15 years

Zhang Yue, a former senior official in Hebei province, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday for taking bribes.

Zhang is a former member of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Committee of the Communist Party of China and former secretary for political and legal affairs of the provincial committee.

The Intermediate People's Court in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, found that Zhang had taken advantage of his position to help others acquire land, get contracts or attain promotions between 2008 and 2016, and the bribery in which he was involved, either directly or through other people, amounted to more than 150 million yuan ($22.5 million).