A village chief in central China's Henan Province has been sentenced to death after killing six people over discord and business conflict.

Xing Guoping, director of the Liguizuo Village committee in Jiaozuo City, was found guilty of shooting and killing two business partners over profit distribution. He also killed four villagers, according to the verdict handed down by the Jiaozuo Municipal Intermediate People's Court.

Xing, 36, had been operating a brick kiln with Li Maolin and Yang Baoyue since December 2006. The three got into a dispute over how to share the money after selling the kiln.

On October 31, Xing shot Yang's wife and Li several times in the head and chest, killing the two instantly.

Xing then went on the killing in another village, shooting four people who had given him strife over village affairs, according to local residents.

Three of the villagers were killed at the site and one died in a local hospital after emergency treatment failed.

The court said Xing qualified for the death penalty because of the intentional homicide and illegally possessing a gun.

Court investigations and hearings in China usually last a relatively long time. However, the case was concluded within just a month due to its brutality and the bad influence it set for society, according to prosecutors.

(Xinhua News Agency, December 11, 2007)