The Xi'an Intermediate People's Court Wednesday sentenced Zhang Xiaochuan, former deputy head of the publicity department of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, to 17 years in prison for taking bribes and abuse of power.

Zhang, aged 59, once served as deputy publicity minister of Chongqing, director of the city's radio and TV administration and other leading posts.

The court investigation showed that Zhang, together with his younger brother Zhang Tiansheng, took bribes of 530,000 yuan (63, 855 US dollars) and 57,000 US dollars between 1998 and 2003 for aiding others by abusing his power.

Moreover, Zhang was in illegal possession of 608,000 yuan (73, 253 US dollars) and 27,000 US dollars for which he could not give out a legitimate source.

Source: Xinhua