A higher court in Beijing Friday rejected an appeal from a former high-ranking official in China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC), who had been given a suspended death penalty for accepting bribes.

The Beijing Higher People's Court Friday upheld the verdict handed down by an intermediate court in May, which gave Guo Jingyi, a former MOC senior inspector, a death sentence with a two-year reprieve, according to a statement issued by the court.

Guo, a 44-year-old, was convicted on charges of accepting bribes valued at about 8.45 million yuan (1.24 million U.S. dollars).

The verdict also included the confiscation of all his personal property and lifetime deprivation of his political rights.

The court found Guo took 3.34 million yuan in bribes from companies and lawyers between 1998 and 2007. In return, he helped the companies to go public and obtain administrative approval for changes in stocks' rights and mergers and acquisitions by foreign companies.

Guo also took illegal gains valued at 5.1 million yuan to help a Beijing company set up a foreign-funded firm, and helped another company pass an investigation into its illegal use of foreign exchange.

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