Liu Fangren, former secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was sentenced to life imprisonment Tuesday, June 29, 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 6.61 million yuan (over 799,000 US dollars) of renminbi and additional 19,900 US dollars, 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 thejudicial 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.

Source: Xinhua