Liu Fangren, former secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was sentenced to life imprisonment here Tuesday for taking bribes by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court in its first ruling.

Liu was found to take, on 22 separate occasions, bribes of 6.61million yuan (US$799,000) and additional US$19,900, between March 1995 and February 2002 when he was secretary of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of Guizhou Provincial People's Congress.

Liu was accused of misusing his power to seek for illegal benefits for others and his daughter-in-law was also accused of complicity with him in taking bribes, according to the court.

All of the bribes have been confiscated along with Liu's personal properties.

Liu, 68, was the Party chief of southwestern Guizhou Province from 1993 to 2001 and appointed vice-chairman of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee of the 9th National People 's Congress in April 2002. He was expelled from the CPC and handed over to the judicial authorities last April.

Liu's former colleague Liu Changgui, former vice-governor of Guizhou Province, was also on the corruption trial from March this year. Lu Wanli, former director of Guizhou provincial transportation department, was sentenced to death on May 11 after being convicted of taking bribes.

As one of China's most impoverished provinces, Guizhou has a population of some 38 million.

In 2003, 12 provincial or ministry-level Chinese officials were penalized.

At same time, Huang Yihui, former director of the Shenzhen City Highway Administration, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve Tuesday for taking bribes and possessing huge properties without identified sources.

Huang, who was also former director of the city's civil affairs bureau, was deprived of his political right for life, and all his personal properties were confiscated, according to the court verdict.

The Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen, in south China's Guangdong Province, found that Huang, by taking advantage of his official posts, took bribes totaling 6.05 million yuan (US$730,000), 9.46 million Hong Kong dollars and US$50,000 from 1995 to 2003. He was arrested in October of 2003.

Huang was also found to possessed 8.66 million yuan (US$1.04 million), 8.97 million Hong Kong dollars and over US$170,000 which he could not identify the sources.

Huang said he would not appeal.

(Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2004)