Wang Zhonglu, former vice-governor of Zhejiang Province, faces a dozen years behind bars for accepting bribes and abusing his official powers.

The sentence was handed down by the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court on Tuesday, according to a report from the Xinhua News Agency.

Wang, once vice-governor of the eastern Chinese province, became the president and general manager of the Zhejiang International Trust and Investment Company from 1993 to 1998.

He was convicted of abusing his powers to help Sun Dashan, the president and general manager of Zhejiang Land United Company and Hangzhou Huayuan Industrial Ltd Co, gain profits from loans, land transfers and other businesses.

According to the court investigation, between 1998 and 2000, Wang accepted a total of 390,000 yuan (US$47,000) in bribes from Sun, in varying amounts on five occasions.

In 1993 and 1994, also during his tenure of office at Zhejiang International Trust and Investment Company, Wang misused his authority on three projects with Shenzhen Golden Sanyuan Building, Jiabin Building and Shanghai Hongfayuan.

Wang's abuse of powers resulted in a total loss of more than 44 million yuan (US$5.3 million) to his company.

(China Daily September 3, 2004)