The Bank of China (BOC) announced in Beijing Friday that BOC Hong Kong's former president Liu Jinbao was sentenced to death with two years in suspension on graft.

The Changchun Municipal Intermediate People's Court in northeast China's Jinlin Province made the first ruling on Friday.

Along with Liu, Zhu Chi and Ding Yansheng, former vice presidents of BOC Hong Kong, were sentenced to 13 years in prison each with a fine of two million yuan (around US$247,000).

Former general manager of the president's office in BOC Hong Kong was sentenced to eight-year imprisonment with a fine of 1.5 million yuan (US$185,000).

"The case warned us of efficient supervision over high level executives in financial institutions," said Wang Zhaowen, spokesman for the BOC.

The Bank of China would learn from the case and tighten its management, Wang said.

The BOC is one of the four big state commercial banks in China and is preparing for going public.
 
(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2005)