A former party secretary of a poor county in Yunnan province was sentenced by a local court to 18 years in jail for corruption and taking bribes of 5 million yuan and properties worth more than 10 million yuan, the Kunming Daily reported Sunday.

Zhao Shiyong, ex-party secretary of Malipo county, in Yunnan's Wenshan Zhuang and Miao prefecture, where farmers' per capita income was only 1,879 yuan in 2009 and was one of the country's poorest counties, was the most corrupt party secretary on the county level, the newspaper said.

Zhao was also the "king of reimbursement," buying expensive items including televisions, refrigerators, bags, watches and even small things such as items for washing and socks, all reimbursed with public funds.

Zheng Yalin, Zhao's mistress and a former official of Wenshan prefecture government who turned herself in, was sentenced to two years in jail for corruption and was also stripped of her personal property of 500,000 yuan.