Huang Yao, the former chairman of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), received a death sentence with a two-year reprieve Thursday for taking bribes.

?Huang Yao.[File photo]

The ruling was handed down by the Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, in a first-instant trial held Thursday.

The court heard that Huang, 62, abused his positions as Party chief of the Qianxinan Buyi-Miao Autonomous Prefectural Committee, deputy secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, and chairman of the CPPCC Guizhou Provincial Committee between September 1993 and early 2009.

In return for more than 9.54 million yuan (about 1.43 million U.S. dollars) in bribes, Huang assisted others in affairs relating to business, land planning and job promotions, the court was told.

The court concluded that Huang was guilty of having committed a crime of bribe-taking.

The court said the bribes Huang took were "enormous" and that his offenses were "extremely serious" but because he cooperated with investigators, and confessed to all his crimes and returned all of his illegal gains, he was given a suspended death sentence.

Apart from sentencing Huang to death with a probation, the court also confiscated all of his personal property.

It is not immediately known whether Huang will appeal his case.