An appeal court in southwest China Friday upheld a suspended death sentence on Qiao Hong, former general manager of the famed liquor maker Kweichow Moutai.

The Higher People's Court in southwest China's Guizhou Province, where the Shanghai-listed company is based, made the decision after a second trial.

The court said in a statement Friday that Qiao's death sentence with a two-year reprieve, handed down by the Intermediate People's Court in Zunyi City in January, had been meted out "fairly and adequately".

Qiao, 56, was convicted of accepting bribes and being unable to account for his assets.

He was also deprived of his political rights for life and his property was confiscated.

The court heard that Qiao had taken bribes totaling 13 million yuan (1.9 million U.S. dollars) from 2000 to 2007, when he was general manager of the liquor company. In addition, he and his brother Qiao Jianhua took other bribes worth 2.18 million yuan.

Qiao could not explain the sources of 8.2 million yuan of his property, the court heard.

Qiao was appointed general manager of Kweichow Moutai, a listed arm of the state-owned Moutai Group, in August 2000.

He had previously served as deputy director of the Guizhou Provincial Bureau of Light Industry.

The bribery probe began in May 2007.