He said the government of the Jiangning District, where Zhang lived, had paid 3 million yuan in advance in compensation. Zhang said he would be responsible for repaying the money.

Wu said traffic offenses usually incurred jail terms from three to seven years. In serious cases, the charge could be changed to endangering public safety, which could incur the death penalty, because people should be aware that drink-driving could have deadly consequences.

Chinese courts have sentenced drink-drivers who caused fatal accidents to death, but some sentences were later amended by higher courts.

China's Supreme People's Court explained that death penalty should be used only in extremely serious crimes, where strong criminal intent was proved and the crime had a significant social impact.

Chinese police had apprehended 148,000 drink-drivers by the end of October since a nationwide crackdown was launched on Aug. 15, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

The two-month campaign was extended on Oct. 19 to the end of the year, after a series of fatal traffic accidents caused by drink-drivers.